- Linus Torvalds says Linux developers can make their own decisions about using AI
- Anti-AI developers may ‘fork’ and go elsewhere, says
- AI should be used to help developers, stresses Torvalds
Linux creator Linus Torvalds has finally concluded that while developers will not be discouraged from using AI tools to help with their coding needs, AI will not be mandatory and no one will be forced to use it.
“Linux is not one of those anti-AI projects, and if anyone has problems with that, they can make something open source and fork it,” he said in an update to the kernel mailing list.
Torvalds himself does not actively advocate either option, acknowledging that the technology is more of a tool than an ideology and that proven use cases have helped solidify its uses, despite questionable economics, environmental impacts, and long-term consequences.
Torvalds tells AI haters to “fork it”
Torvalds added that he also knows that AI can create serious problems for maintainers, as AI-assisted submissions increase workloads, produce noise and possible duplication, and generally add more workload for humans.
Speaking about the role of AI in developer workflows, Torvalds criticized some for burying their heads in the sand and ignoring its impact. “The solution is to make sure those LLM tools _help_ maintainers instead of just causing them pain,” he emphasized.
In his message, Torvalds also rejected perfection as a standard, admitting that “natural intelligence” can be as error-prone as artificial intelligence.
The open source project, then, is not “some sort of ‘social warrior’ project” used to debate the relevance of artificial intelligence, and Torvalds welcomes all kinds of views and contributions from developers, regardless of whether or not they use AI assistance.
“The kernel project has been and will continue to be about technology,” he concluded.
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