AI cuts coding time, but it's also filling open source's inbox with crap

AI cuts coding time, but it's also filling open source's inbox with crap

Open-source maintainers say roughly one in four incoming pull requests is low-quality AI-generated content, and that figure climbs to 31 percent on larger projects, according to a new Linux Foundation survey. The same respondents estimate generative AI cuts code-authoring time by 52 percent on average, but 21 percent report it actually takes longer for highly complex tasks. The flood of automated submissions is straining volunteer security teams, with the curl project moving low and medium severity flaws to public view because maintainers feel overloaded. Only 35 percent of projects have a formal policy permitting AI use, while 32 percent have no policy and no plans for one. For everyday users, the risk is slower security fixes and buggier software as maintainers spend more time filtering slop than reviewing real improvements. The Linux Foundation says projects need clearer rules and better tools before AI can expand participation without overburdening the people who keep critical software running.