In the ever-updating world of AI, where every week brings another game-changer, ChatGPT is unquestionably the current market leader – so you’re wondering which is best when it comes to ChatGPT vs Devin AI. And we’re here to try to answer that for you in as much detail as possible.
With over 189 million users, ChatGPT is the world’s most recognized AI tool. It has defined the conversation about AI since it burst into mainstream consciousness in November 2022. Comparatively, Devin AI has been around for mere moments. It materialized out of stealth, backed by $21 million in venture capital from Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund.
Both tools provide AI-assisted coding, so it’s worth comparing them to see what they share and how they differ. Let’s investigate and see if the challenger, Devin AI, has what it takes to dethrone the current reigning king!
ChatGPT vs Devin AI – Emergence
Devin, the newcomer from Cognition AI, has attracted a lot of attention this week. Created by a coding team that includes Scott and Andrew Wu, two brothers who have been winning international coding competitions since their teens, it promises to set a new standard in AI-assisted software development.
ChatGPT, on the other hand, is the market leader and pacesetter. A revolutionary, versatile, large language model (LLM) with a proven track record across writing, coding, imaging, and speech-assisted queries. It’s the benchmark by which all other AI software is currently measured.
Two futuristic robots, engineered by Devin AI, arm wrestling with a colorful, sparkling background.
A screenshot displaying a dual monitor setup with code editors on both screens, suggesting an AI Engineer or programming task in progress.
A screenshot of the Devin AI dev ui.
A screenshot of a computer showcasing Devin AI.
ChatGPT vs Devin AI – Coding
Devins Coding Capabilities
Devin’s level of autonomy goes well beyond ChatGPT’s conversational abilities, which require a human to be in the loop. Instead, Devin’s offers a standout feature: the ability to plan, execute, and collaborate on complex software engineering tasks. This innovative skill has earned it the tag ‘The World’s First AI Software Engineer.’ In this regard, Devin appears to be unrivaled. Numerous AI tools are available to help with coding, but if Devin can live up to its hype, it will herald a new era in AI coding.
Three Examples of Devin’s coding prowess:
1. Devin Makes Images With Hidden Text
In this video, Sara, one of Devin’s engineers, demonstrates its ability to create a hidden text message within an image. She refers Devin to a relevant blog post that shows how to achieve this, specifies the image resolution (1080p), and asks Devin to conceal her name in the hidden text. Then, she leaves Devin to complete the task.
2. Devin Squashes Software Bugs
In this video, Neil, a Cognition engineer, directs Devin to fix a bug in a GitHub repository. He provides Devin with the link, outlines the problem, and lets Devin resolve it.
3. Devin Freelances on Upwork
This was the video that caused Devin to go viral on social media. Cognition engineer Walden discusses how Devin completed a job on Upwork. The task involved setting up a computer vision system. Devin dealt with and resolved a series of issues: understanding, fixing, and updating the client’s code. Devin then sent over sample images and delivered a final file explaining how it had completed the task.
ChatGPT as a Coding Tool
ChatGPT has a well-understood capability as a general-purpose LLM, but it’s also pretty smart at generating code. Here’s an outline of its coding capabilities:
- Code Generation: ChatGPT can generate code snippets in multiple programming languages in response to a user’s prompts. It’s a genuinely useful tool for prototyping and for solving many common programming problems.
- Bug Fixing: OpenAI’s LLM can assist in identifying problems, outlining solutions, and suggesting bug fixes.
- Code Explainer: ChatGPT is pretty good at generating and explaining code snippets, which makes it a highly useful tool for anyone learning to program.
- Suggestions & Guidance: Helpful suggestions, advice, and step-by-step instructions for completing common coding. ChatGPT has your back, making it an exceptional developer companion.
Autonomy
Devin operates within a sandboxed environment that mimics a developer’s workspace. Inside that sandbox, it has access to common developer tools like the shell, a code editor, and a browser. It can plan and execute independently inside that environment. While doing this, it maintains the helpful habit of updating the user in a chat window with messages detailing its ongoing progress.
In contrast, ChatGPT provides a conversational interface, one where users must continuously input text prompts or voice commands. While ChatGPT explains what it’s doing and responds to user requests to create code, it does this without working inside a visible development environment.
| Feature | Devin AI | ChatGPT |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Autonomous AI Software Engineer | General purpose Large Language Model |
| Autonomy | Can plan, execute, and collaborate on complex software tasks, including building, debugging and testing applications | Coding assistance and explanations with human supervision. |
| Integration | Sandbox environment with access to developer tools (shell, code editor, browser) | Coding assistance, explanations text-based interaction, no integration |
| Real-Time Collaboration | Collaborates in real-time accepts feedback adjusts accordingly. | Improves based on user input, lacks real-time feedback loop and software specialization tools |
| Learning | Can self-learn to complete tasks | Can learn and apply new information |
| Adoption | 180 million active users, widely available | Closed access, awaiting full release |
Real-time collaboration
Devin AI’s ability to collaborate in real-time, accept feedback, and adjust its actions accordingly showcases its capabilities as a model tuned specifically to help with software development. It lets developers work alongside Devin as if it were a human teammate. Because it displays such a high degree of autonomy, a developer can leave Devin to complete tasks independently, knowing it will require only minimal feedback and course correction.
ChatGPT, on the other hand, can iteratively improve its outputs based on user input but lacks specialization in software development – as we explain in our ChatGPT review. It relies on back-and-forth interactions with a user to move things forward. As a result, it can’t work independently. It can and does provide valuable assistance, but it cannot (currently) be considered collaborative in the same way that Devin is.
ChatGPT vs Devin AI – Learning
Both Devin AI and ChatGPT can learn and apply new information. Devin is specifically designed for software engineering and, as such, can learn new technologies, write and debug software, read manuals, browse the Internet for relevant data, and contribute to code repositories. This autonomy and ability to problem-solve on the fly represent a genuinely significant advance in this domain.
ChatGPT’s learning is based on its abilities as an LLM, holding a vast corpus of trained knowledge, but it also can learn new things. This comes from user input (pasting an article, uploading a PDF or photo) or being fine-tuned on a specific dataset. In contrast to Devin, ChatGPT’s knowledge is broad-based but passive. It does not independently seek new sources of information or learn from real-time interactions. Despite this, it displays an incredibly deep understanding of many subjects and is invaluable as both a learning tool and a specialized resource.
Accessibility and Adoption
ChatGPT, with its huge and growing user base, has already significantly impacted the AI landscape and the wider world. It’s no exaggeration to say that it’s already one of history’s most significant products. Its technology has achieved widespread adoption, and OpenAI’s relationship with Microsoft continues to bolster its growth.
Devin AI, on the other hand, is still in closed access; little is known about it beyond demos and anecdotal reporting. In this regard, it has everything still to prove. It promises a lot — if it can fulfill those expectations, indications suggest it could become a significant and important product.
Is ChatGPT better than Devin AI?
While Devin AI excels at coding, ChatGPT is a much more generalized knowledge system. Its ability to engage in conversations across a wide range of topics gives it utility that Devin, with its specialized functionality, simply doesn’t have.
Devin AI and ChatGPT represent very different approaches to coding with AI, each with its own distinct strengths. Devin AI pushes the boundaries of autonomous software development, while ChatGPT offers an adaptable and easily accessible interface suitable for widespread use. Both technologies are contributing to a rapidly accelerating process, one in which AI tools and services continue to transform our daily lives.
