The Role of GitHub Copilot on Software Development: A Perspective on Productivity, Security, Best Practices and Future Directions
It addresses the problem of balancing productivity gains with security and quality for developers and organizations using AI tools, but is incremental as a survey.
The paper synthesizes literature on GitHub Copilot's impact on software development, finding it accelerates coding and prototyping but raises concerns over security vulnerabilities and intellectual property risks.
GitHub Copilot is transforming software development by automating tasks and boosting productivity through AI driven code generation. In this paper, we conduct a literature survey to synthesize insights on Copilot's impact on productivity and security. We review academic journal databases, industry reports, and official documentation to highlight key findings and challenges. While Copilot accelerates coding and prototyping, concerns over security vulnerabilities and intellectual property risks persist. Drawing from the literature, we provide a perspective on best practices and future directions for responsible AI adoption in software engineering, offering actionable insights for developers and organizations to integrate Copilot effectively while maintaining high standards of quality and security.