GitHub Copilot integrates Stack Overflow for AI assistance

Stack Overflow has announced a new GitHub Copilot Extension that enables developers to directly ask questions within the AI-powered coding assistant, receiving summarised responses derived from Stack Overflow's extensive repository of technical knowledge.

This partnership aims to aid developers in resolving complex coding challenges by combining Stack Overflow's wealth of technical content with GitHub's AI tool.

It comes as the 2024 Stack Overflow Developer Survey revealed that 61% of developers spend over 30 minutes daily searching for solutions to problems - highlighting the potential productivity increases offered by this new tool.

Stack Overflow is committed to its Knowledge-as-a-Service vision, ensuring that 16 years of reliable technical content is easily accessible to developers during their workflow. By forming strategic partnerships and integrating products, Stack Overflow facilitates smoother workflow processes.

The company is also focused on advocating for socially responsible practices within the AI field. This includes providing sourced and accurate data in AI models and products. The new extension attributes the content used, which facilitates developers accessing further context and information.

Chief Executive Officer of Stack Overflow, Prashanth Chandrasekar, stated, "Our goal has always been to make Stack Overflow the destination for all things technology knowledge - a beacon of trust and expertise. However, we know developers are leveraging a number of new AI tools to support productivity and we want to ensure we are meeting them where they are and how they like to work. Similar to our Visual Studio Code Extension, we hope this collaboration with GitHub and the Copilot Extension will allow developers to remain focused in their workflow but take into account that they are supported by trusted and attributed content backed by the millions within our community."

Mario Rodriguez, Chief Product Officer at GitHub, added, "With our Copilot-powered platform, we look to keep developers in the flow with access to the services, tools, and resources they need to build and create in the AI era. Extensions like Stack Overflow for GitHub Copilot empower developers with a customizable and streamlined workflow, improving productivity when searching for simple and complex technical questions. Developer choice results in developer happiness, and we are excited to continue to grow our ecosystem."

The Stack Overflow extension is currently available to a select group of early access users through the GitHub Marketplace. There are plans to extend availability to Stack Overflow for Teams users in the forthcoming months.