Torvalds: AI is fine for competent devs, but spare us the 'drive-by' patches

Linus Torvalds is embracing AI to write Linux kernel code, and some people are having fits. He has a message for them. So do I.

Roy Schestowitz, editor of Tux Machines, summed up his reaction to the news as " Linus Torvalds Turns to Slop. " In the podcast Pivot to AI, podcaster David Gerard agreed: "Linux kernel goes full AI slop code." Meanwhile, in the Tom's Hardware comments section, commenter "LordVile" wrote: " This is a publicity stunt from his AI overlords [The Linux Foundation] who pay his wage." They followed this by saying this is the "same reason he's flipped-flopped on AI."

I've known Linus for a few decades, and I don't take his use of AI as evidence that he's suddenly abandoned his standards. And the very idea that he'd do anything he didn't want to do with Linux on behalf of the Linux Foundation, or anyone else, is ludicrous.

I get it, though. There are reasons …