AI speeds coding but increases low-quality contributions to open source

A Linux Foundation survey found that generative AI is helping open source developers write code faster, but also adding to maintainers’ workload through a rise in low-quality contributions. The findings matter because many projects lack clear rules for AI-assisted submissions, while maintainers report pressure from both proposed code changes and AI-assisted security reports.

Maintainers estimated that about 25 per cent of incoming pull requests are AI slop, rising to 31 per cent at larger projects. Respondents said AI reduced code-authoring time by an average of 52 per cent, although 21 per cent said complex tasks took longer; 71 per cent felt AI had lowered barriers to contributing, while 53 per cent disagreed that it had improved community trust. Only 35 per cent of projects have a formal policy permitting AI use, and 32 per cent have no policy or plans for one.