Hi, I agree with the points that state that there is a need for some documentation that we can point newer contributors to in case we spot completely AI-generated code/PRs, as has been the trend for some of the more recent code I've reviewed. I think the same applies for commit messages or phab task comments which sometimes look very obviously AI generated.
Something that fits along the lines of what Travis said - "able to understand, explain, and justify any code that an AI tool contributes to your PR" - should be a good resource! Thanks, Parthiv Menon On Sun, 25 Jan, 2026, 18:51 Pine W via Wikitech-l, < [email protected]> wrote: > Hello, > > Perhaps this essay is worth reading & taking inspiration from, regarding > activities in general whether or not they involve AI: > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Competence_is_required. > Especially when experienced volunteers are stretched thin, patience and > time for coaching are limited resources, and a decision may be made to end > someone's involvement. > > My personal opinion regarding products in general is aligned with Dreamy's > "I think if we adopt a similar policy or guideline, then it would need to > be careful to avoid discouraging new developers learning by doing (i.e. > using AI to help them learn)" along with Sohom's "(My personal compass is > that it's fine to use AI tooling as long as you adhere to "Own the code you > commit"", with the addition I'm opposed to expecting volunteers or a > nonprofit's staff time to be used reviewing low quality contributions where > those on the reviewing end haven't given informed consent in advance; also > see https://www.runtime.news/ai-slop-is-overwhelming-open-source/, > quoting from LLVM maintaners: "While new tools enable more development, it > shifts effort from the implementor to the reviewer, and our policy exists > to ensure that we value and do not squander maintainer time". > > Balance is required between coaching, quality, velocity, and resource > allocation issues. > > Thanks for raising this question, Travis. > > Pine🌲 > > On Sun, Jan 25, 2026 at 6:34 PM Travis Briggs via Wikitech-l < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Agreed, my policy includes: >> >> > Basically, you should be able to understand, explain, and justify any >> code that an AI tool contributes to your PR. >> >> Cheers, >> -Travis >> >> On Sun, Jan 25, 2026 at 6:20 PM Brian Wolff via Wikitech-l < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> I'm of the opinion if people can tell you are using an LLM you are using >>> it wrong. Its still expected that you fully understand any patch you >>> submit. I think if you use an LLM to help you nobody would complain or >>> really notice, but if you blindly submit an LLM authored patch without >>> understanding how it works people will get frustrated with you very quickly. >>> >>> -- >>> Brian >>> >>> On Sunday, 25 January 2026, Travis Briggs via Wikitech-l < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> Hi all, >>>> >>>> I know there's been a lot of discussion/concern and policy decisions >>>> around usage of LLMs for authoring content in Wikimedia projects. >>>> >>>> I wonder if there's been similar discussion around AI coding for >>>> technical editors? I'm not sure I've seen it "go by". Can someone link to >>>> where these discussions are happening? >>>> >>>> I also wanted to share a policy I wrote for WP1: >>>> https://github.com/openzim/wp1/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md#usage-of-llmsai-coding-assistants >>>> >>>> Cheers, >>>> -Travis >>>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Wikitech-l mailing list -- [email protected] >>> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >>> >>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/wikitech-l.lists.wikimedia.org/ >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikitech-l mailing list -- [email protected] >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/wikitech-l.lists.wikimedia.org/ > > _______________________________________________ > Wikitech-l mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/wikitech-l.lists.wikimedia.org/
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