thank you for starting this important discussion.
- ph
~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~
paula hendricks ~:~ san francisco CA ~:~ 415.310.1168
On Fri, Aug 14, 2026 at 12:30 AM David T. via gnucash-user <
[email protected]> wrote:
> Long message here. Sorry in advance!
>
> ;TLDR; The AI policy page needs edits which I feel unqualified to make,
> but I think a discussion by the group as a whole is warranted. Delete if
> you're not interested.
>
> In another thread, the GnuCash AI policy (wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/AI_Policy)
> was cited as a concern for script consideration. I was unaware of this page
> and consulted it.
>
> I appreciate the effort that John Ralls has put into this page, and the
> amount of welcome detail included therein.
>
> However, I see a number of areas that concern me about the page, and I
> think that the larger group should examine the page and weigh in.
>
> First off: there is, actually, no policy stated on the page. The Opening
> Section raises a number of legitimate concerns regarding AI use and ethics,
> which strongly suggest that the GnuCash team does not want AI code
> included. But then the Other Projects section presents information from
> numerous other MAJOR open source projects that cover a very wide range of
> AI acceptance. This section in essence undermines whatever position may
> have been the team's intention.
>
> In other words, the two sections make it difficult for a reader to
> articulate what GnuCash's policy is or might be. That needs to be fixed,
> most likely with a GnuCash Policy section that unambiguously states what
> the team will or will not accept. See below.
>
> Another concern I have is that the opening section includes a range of
> concerns that are fundamentally different in their focus. I think some
> consideration should be made as to how these are presented or argued.
> Perhaps, for example, quality and skills could be grouped and addressed
> together, with a focus on results for GnuCash code, while the legal issues
> could focus on GnuCash liability.
>
> I won't quibble about the section about quality, except to note that bad
> quality code can come from any source--including and especially from human
> contributors. One reason I don't contribute code anywhere is because I SUCK
> at coding, and my code is terrible. I'll also note that the tools have
> advanced at a staggering pace, to the point where Linus himself is
> embracing their use in the Linux kernel. (<
> https://lore.kernel.org/linux-media/CAHk-=wi4zc+ze8e+p3tmv8ttg_80kzsz1syl9anbtmeh5z4...@mail.gmail.com/
> >)
>
> I have no qualms about the provenance piece. That's clearly an area that
> John has a lot of expertise!
>
> I personally don't have the legal expertise to judge the conclusions of
> the copyrightability of AI code, and while I respect John's greater
> knowledge and experience in this area, I question whether anyone can tell
> where these legal boundaries lie, and where they will end up.
>
> While the assertion that AI generated code cannot be copyrighted is
> accurate at this time, I suspect the boundaries on this will move
> substantially when the legal world gets involved. For instance, I guarantee
> that someone will file a case claiming that their code deserves protection
> based on some percentage of their own oversight and contribution, and the
> courts will issue some kind of decision that will piss someone else off,
> who will then appeal, etc. And eventually, the superannuated fuddy-duddies
> in Washington will call for hearings (some one of them will angrily insist
> that they need to see this Claude guy in the witness box Im-me-di-ate-ly!)
> and eventually create a badly crafted law to establish how copyright should
> apply in these situations. But I'm definitely not in a position to know
> where this ends up.
>
> Moving on, the question of skill development is fair, but one that is much
> larger than the GnuCash project, and I question whether it's relevant for
> GnuCash's AI policy page. To put this in perspective, college students
> around the world are questioning whether they should stick with Comp Sci as
> a major, given the market trends. And while it's in GnuCash's interest to
> have skilled coders contributing to the project, see my note above about
> quality code. AI isn't necessarily the problem; lazy people who think they
> can get complex code handed to them without doing their own work are.
>
> I personally agree with the issues regarding LLMs as netizens.
>
> Because I am Unqualified But Opinionated (UBO), I'll offer here a
> suggested addition to the wiki page. It could go at the top or the bottom,
> as appropriate:
>
> ---------
> GnuCash AI Policy
> Given the concerns and issues raised here, as well as the overall
> uncertainty about how AI-generated code fits in computing universe, the
> development team for GnuCash has determined that code contributed to the
> project should contain only code that the human contributor affirms is as
> accurate, error-free, and efficient as they can determine.
>
> Ideally, this code will not include AI-generated code, but if it does, the
> submission MUST:
> 1) State clearly the use of AI-generated code.
> 2) Name the AI tools and specific prompts used.
> 3) Identify the extent of AI-generated code.
> 4) State workflows used to evaluate and process AI-generated code.
>
> Finally, the use of AI-generated code will likely result in additional
> scrutiny of such code to verify its quality, accuracy, and legitimacy and
> may result in outright rejection of such submissions.
> ----------
> David T.
>
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