Microsoft is leveraging its agreement with OpenAI to radically change the nature of low-code development with its first AI-powered code completion tool.
OpenAI is an AI research organization, founded on the principle of researching AI in a safe, responsible way. OpenAI’s GPT-3 is one of the leading natural language models, and it runs exclusively on Microsoft Azure. Microsoft also has an exclusive license to the GPT-3 code, giving it wide latitude to incorporate the model in its own products.
The partnership is bearing fruit, with Microsoft incorporating GPT-3 in its Power Apps low code development platform, adding natural, conversational language to the programming process.
The new AI-powered features will allow an employee building an e-commerce app to describe a programming goal using conversational language like “find products where the name starts with ‘kids.’” A fine-tuned GPT-3 model then offers choices for transforming the command into a Microsoft Power Fx formula, the open source programming language of the Power Platform, such as “Filter(‘BC Orders’ Left(‘Product Name’,4)=”Kids”).
For the time being, GPT-3’s features are limited to use with Microsoft Power Fx, but the future possibilities are visually endless.
“Using an advanced AI model like this can help our low-code tools become even more widely available to an even bigger audience by truly becoming what we call no code,” said Charles Lamanna, corporate vice president for Microsoft’s low code application platform.
