Re: [RFC/PATCH] SubmittingPatches: forbid use of genAI to generate changes

From: Collin Funk <collin.funk1@gmail.com>
Date: Jun 30, 2025, 21:23 UTC
Message-ID: <87ms9oore1.fsf@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <aGL8hubqY35UAaGh@fruit.crustytoothpaste.net>

Hi all,

"brian m. carlson" <sandals@crustytoothpaste.net> writes:

Show 9 quoted lines

> I think this seems prudent given the fact that there are 181 signatories
> to the Berne Convention and even if the courts rule that the use of
> generative AI is acceptable in one country (say, the United States), it
> isn't clear that that will mean anything in other countries (such as
> Canada).  Considering that there's ongoing litigation and quite a bit of
> legal uncertainty, as well as substantial pushback on generative AI from
> the open source community, this approach seems like it's in the best
> interests of the project at the moment[0].  We can always reconsider in
> the future if need be.

I agree. It feels unsafe given the lack of legislation and lack of case law.

One thing, though:

>> +Hence, the project asks that contributors refrain from using AI content
>> +generators on changes that are submitted to the project.
>> +Contributions in which use of AI is either known or suspected may not
>> +be accepted.

This feels more like a suggestion than a requirement. Shouldn't we explicitly prohibit it? If we truly are worried about the copyright-ability of its output.

Collin