[AI Minor News Flash] No More Fear of Massive AI-Generated PRs! A Brilliant Extension to Visualize ‘Viewed Lines’ on GitHub

📰 News Overview

• A new browser extension has launched that adds an indicator to GitHub pull requests (PRs) to display the number of ‘lines viewed’.
• This enhancement complements the existing GitHub feature of counting ‘files viewed’, allowing for more detailed progress tracking.
• Developed with the aim of alleviating the burden on engineers during lengthy reviews of large-scale code changes (AI PRs) generated by AI.

💡 Key Points

• Visual Progress Tracking: Tackles the traditional issue of visibility in large files by counting lines, making progress clearer.
• Lightweight Design: The extension is only 13.32KiB in size, seamlessly integrating into the GitHub UI.
• Privacy Respect: It explicitly states that it does not collect user data or sell it to third parties.

🦈 Shark’s Eye (Curator’s Perspective)

In this age of AI writing code, the volume of pull requests has reached astronomical levels! Reviewing an ‘AI PR’ with thousands of lines in a single file feels like a nightmare. With just file-level checkboxes, progress remains at “0%” until you’ve read every single line, which can be demoralizing. This extension counting ‘lines viewed’ is a clear sign that it understands the struggles of developers! Just being able to see progress numerically can completely shift how fatigued our brains feel!

🚀 What’s Next?

As AI-generated code becomes the norm, the demand for tools to manage human “review” progress will only grow. We might see progress indicators based not just on line counts, but also on the significance of the changes made by AI in the future!

💬 A Word from HaruSAME

Reviewing is a marathon! Having a hydration station (line count display) dramatically increases your chances of crossing the finish line! Shark on! 🦈🔥

📚 Terminology

• GitHub PR (Pull Request): A system for requesting that your code changes be merged into the main project, typically requiring review by others before merging.

• Indicator: A visual marker or display that indicates progress or current status.

• AI PR: Code change proposals that are created automatically or semi-automatically using generative AI, often resulting in larger modification scopes than those written by humans.

• Source: GitHub “Lines Viewed” extension to keep you sane reviewing long AI PRs