Continuous AI Assistance for Model-Driven Engineering

Proactive AI-based assistants are now common in software engineering tools; however, few exist for ModelDriven Engineering (MDE) environments. Most existing AI assistants for MDE, particularly those based on large language models, require user interactions that can interrupt the modeling workflow. However, MDE is inherently a continuous process, involving successive cycles of diagram construction, verification, and modification. Relying on supplementary tools that require intensive interaction can therefore be time-consuming and disrupt engineers focus. Consequently, there is a need to shift AI-based modeling assistance paradigms to mechanisms that integrate naturally into the continuous MDE workflow. To address this need, the paper introduces ContinuousAI, a framework for AI-based continuous MDE assistance. Working alongside MDE engineers, ContinuousAI generates modeling suggestions either on demand or continuously, supporting the improvement of model quality throughout the engineering process. ContinuousAI has been implemented within the MDE toolkit TTool. Evaluation results show that ContinuousAI provides highly relevant suggestions while maintaining computation times and environmental footprints compatible with real-world continuous MDE usage.