r/opensource Mods Ban AI Projects, Non-English Speakers, Spark Revolt
Moderators of r/opensource posted rules banning AI-related projects, requiring projects be at least a year old and have multiple contributors, and effectively barring non-English speakers.
The story in focus
Moderators of the r/opensource subreddit posted new submission rules banning projects that use AI, are made by AI, or are intended for AI, along with requirements that projects be at least one year old, actively maintained, and have multiple contributors, and a rule effectively barring non-English speakers, The Verge reported. The rules drew community backlash and prompted creation of a rival r/trueopensource subreddit.
- Moderators of r/opensource posted new submission rules banning projects that use, are made by, or are intended for AI.
- The rules also require submitted projects to be at least one year old, actively maintained, and have multiple contributors.
- A rule effectively bars non-English speakers, with moderators saying they cannot distinguish AI-written from AI-translated text.
- The post drew community backlash and prompted creation of a rival r/trueopensource subreddit.
- Moderator Wolvereness said there is room for selective enforcement, citing accessibility features that use AI.
New submission rules
Moderators of the r/opensource subreddit posted new submission rules that ban projects using AI, made by AI, or intended for AI, according to The Verge. The post said AI as it exists today is incongruent with the community.
The rules also require submitted projects to be at least one year old, actively maintained, and have multiple contributors. The moderators said they can no longer field requests asking for maintainers or contributors.
A further rule effectively bars non-English speakers, with the moderators saying they cannot distinguish between AI-written and AI-translated text and that non-English speakers cannot verify translations.
Backlash and rival community
The new rules set off a firestorm in the comments and spurred the creation of a rival subreddit, r/trueopensource, The Verge reported. Community members complained the rules are too broad, misguided, or vague, and some noted that the Linux kernel now contains some AI-generated code.
Moderator Wolvereness said in the comments that there is nuance and room for selective enforcement, such as software that incidentally has accessibility features using AI, including automatic captioning. The Verge reported that this has not slowed complaints.
What do the new r/opensource rules ban?
The rules ban projects that use, are made by, or are intended for AI; require projects to be at least one year old, actively maintained, and have multiple contributors; and effectively bar non-English speakers, according to The Verge.
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