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r/opensource just banned AI, non-English speakers and more

Summary

Moderators of Reddit's r/opensource have posted new submission rules that ban projects using, made by, or intended for AI, require projects to be at least a year old with active maintenance and multiple contributors, and effectively exclude non-English speakers. The rules sparked a fierce backlash and led to the creation of a rival subreddit, r/trueopensource.

SourceThe Verge AIAuthor: Terrence O’Brien
r/opensource just banned AI, non-English speakers and more
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The mods at r/opensource posted new submission rules that, among other things, banned projects that use AI. The post made Saturday evening opens by saying, “If your project uses AI, is made by AI, or is intended for AI, it’s not welcome on r/opensource. AI, as it exists today, is incongruent to this Open Source community.” The new rules have set off a firestorm in the comments, and even spurred the creation of a rival sub r/trueopensource. Moderator Wolvereness has waded into the comments to explain that there’s nuance and room for selective enforcement, such as “software that incidentally has accessibility features that use AI,” including automatic captioning. But that hasn’t slowed complaints from the community who feel the new rules are too broad, misguided, or vague. Many have pointed out that the Linux kernel now contains some AI-generated code, and so projects using it could be banned under the new rules. While the AI ban is getting most of the attention, mods are placing other restrictions on posts as well. Projects submitted must be at least one year old, actively maintained, and have multiple contributors. That would bar solo developers with new projects from looking for help. The mods even say “we can no longer field requests asking for maintainers or people to contribute.” The mods also effectively banned any non-English-speaking members of the community. “If you don’t speak English, you need to find a different community,” the post reads. “We cannot distinguish between AI-written and AI-translated. Since you don’t speak English, you can’t even verify yourself if it translated correctly.” [Media: https://www.reddit.com/r/opensource/comments/1xelcuf/your_tokens_arent_valuable_no_more_ai/]

Key points and analysis

Article intelligence

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Key points

  • New rules bar projects that use AI, are made by AI, or are intended for AI, with mods calling today's AI incongruent with the community
  • Critics say the rules are too broad, noting the Linux kernel already contains some AI-generated code
  • Projects must be at least a year old, actively maintained, and have multiple contributors, and maintainer-seeking posts are no longer accepted
  • Mods say they cannot distinguish AI-written from AI-translated text, so non-English speakers are told to find another community

Highlights and analysis are generated automatically and may contain errors. Check the original source.

r/opensource just banned AI, non-English speakers and more | AI News Hub