A developer used a tool from the AI company Elon Musk cofounded to create an app that lets you build websites simply by describing how they work

• Debuild cofounder and CEO Sharif Shameem used OpenAI's GPT-3 tool to build a program that allows users to build a website just by describing how it should look like and work.
• GPT-3 is able to understand both formal and conversational human language, and developers have used it for creative writing, building websites, and more.
• He wants the tool to allow even non-technical people to design websites, and doesn't think GPT-3's code writing abilities will ever replace humans entirely: "If anything, it will increase the number of programmers in the world."

In July, Debuild cofounder and CEO Sharif Shameem tweeted about a project he created that allowed him to build a website simply by describing its design.

In the text box, he typed, "the google logo, a search box, and 2 lightgrey buttons that say 'Search Google' and 'I'm Feeling Lucky." The program then generated a virtual copy of the Google homepage.

—Sharif Shameem (@sharifshameem) July 15, 2020

This program uses GPT-3, a "natural language generation" tool from research lab OpenAI, which was cofounded by Elon Musk. GPT-3 was trained on massive swathes of data and can spit our results that mimic human writing. Developers have used it for creative writing, designing websites, writing business memos, and more. Now, Shameem is using GPT-3 for Debuild, a no-code tool for building web apps just by describing what they look like and how they work.

Complimentary Tech Event

Transform talent with learning that works

Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More

With this program, the user just needs to type in and describe what the application will look like and how it will work, and the tool will create a website based on those descriptions.

Debuild is still in its early stages with fewer than five employees working on it, but Shameem believes that it can help bring more people into web design.

"I really want to build a tool that allows nontechnical individuals to build completely functional web applications," Shameem told Business Insider.

Over the years, Shameem built various software projects. When he started experimenting with GPT-3 and GPT-2, GPT-3's predecessor, he thought it was "the most exciting technology I used in my life."

Shameem used GPT-3 to build Debuild, training it with various other datasets from websites with samples of code like GitHub and Stack Overflow.

Read more: The AI company Elon Musk cofounded just released a 'groundbreaking' tool that can automatically mimic human writing — here's how stunned developers are experimenting with it so far

So far, Shameen says people seem excited about his program. His tweet went viral, and many people reacted positively. He also tweeted out a form that allows people to sign up to use Debuild.

However, he also says some people expressed concerns that programmers' jobs are at risk of being automated. Shameen disagrees with that notion, as he believes more programmers will be needed to build AI applications.

"If anything, it will increase the number of programmers in the world," Shameem said.