-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA512 Hi,
On Wed, Jul 22, 2026 at 09:31:10PM +0200, Lucas Nussbaum wrote: > BEGIN PROPOSAL > > # Allow AI-Assisted Contributions > > Using its power under Constitution section 4.1 (5), the project issues the > following statement describing its current position on AI-assisted > contributions. This statement describes the position of the project at the > time it is adopted. That position may evolve as time passes without the need > to resort to future general resolutions. The GR process remains available if > the project needs a decision and cannot come to a consensus. > > The Debian project recognizes that AI-assisted contributions raise many > concerns, e.g. about the technical quality and maintainability of such > contributions, and their legal status. AI itself also raises additional > concerns, about its impact on society at large, on the IT industry and on > Free Software; about its environmental impact; and the aggressive or > non-compliant practices of AI scrapers. > > Nevertheless, many Debian contributors find AI tools helpful when > contributing to Debian, and ultimately for improving Debian. > > Given both the benefits and risks of AI assistance, and the controversial > discussions within the community, the Debian project finds it necessary to > clarify its position on AI-assisted contributions and establish clear > guidelines. > > The Debian project allows AI-assisted contributions (partially or fully > generated by an LLM), provided the following conditions are met: > > 1. **Legal Compatibility:** Contributors should ensure that the terms and > conditions of the generative AI tool do not impose contractual > restrictions that conflict with the distribution, modification, or use of > the output in the context of Debian. > > 2. **Licensing and Attribution:** If any pre-existing copyrighted materials > (including pre-existing code licensed as free software) authored or owned > by third parties are included in the AI tool’s output, prior to > contributing such output to the project, the contributor should verify > that such materials are available under a compatible license. > Additionally, the contributor should provide notice and attribution of > such third party rights, along with information about the applicable > license terms, with their contribution. > > 3. **Accountability:** Contributors assume full responsibility for their > contributions, including vouching for the technical merit, security, > license compliance, and utility of their submissions. The contributor > remains solely accountable for the entirety of these contributions. > Contributors should fully understand the proposed changes and be prepared > to justify them. > > 4. **Explicit Disclosure:** When a significant portion of the contribution > is taken from a tool without manual modification, contributors should > disclose the tool's use. This may be recorded using Git trailers, such as > `Generated-By:` or `Assisted-By:`. > > 5. **Prior Discussion of Bulk or Automated Changes:** Similarly to the > mass-bug filing process (Developers Reference section 7.1.1), > contributors should discuss their intention before submitting bulk or > autonomously generated contributions. Any such automated process should > be overseen by a human who remains accountable for its behavior and > output. > > 6. **Community Courtesy:** To respect the preferences of project members who > wish to avoid AI-generated content, contributors should clearly label > such content in mailing list and bug discussions (e.g., by identifying > such content with a clear disclaimer or a machine-readable tag like > `[AI-Generated]`). > > 7. **Confidentiality and Privacy:** Contributors must not use generative AI > tools that transmit data to untrusted providers with non-public or > sensitive project information (such as embargoed security reports or > private communication), as this may lead to the unintended disclosure of > confidential data. > > END PROPOSAL I second this proposal. Thanks for putting it together! Accountability is key in my view: contributors need to vouch for what they are doing and not blindly import AI slop. Kind regards Philipp Kern -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQEzBAEBCgAdFiEEPzuChCNsw7gPxr3/RG4lRTXQVuwFAmpkj08ACgkQRG4lRTXQ VuwZmgf+IFA6BXbyRXtc3rc0HlFV7NHYaggyoocfylDfMEf1poZq7GmNSPW2J9ae EG12is93NryOnvWJrrfx9K/8ufzhYdY7EiKcn16dju5W58Ze/bnXO0zCZf2SpeGz 6uI1Kyr+9j6B6362QFfMgke334VA9X4b2SDED04X9K2rVsWW65fY7SkSIQTePv8J UGckwv7lSusTERMVSnL4kSU+rC1mMl7c+DyALzkpLtt3DC3ue8g4vt63jEyZu2Zq fBdZZz1fcni01QwsLZy9Qwt/UFxiFndSvpiZno7im9U6JXrZuRYt0ClptIhk7/eQ HoI1XjzhVdjBbHh42exlsoPj8c2Gaw== =4buc -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
