> Besides, if AI is really that good for NuttX, why aren't we seeing the
> issue count go down?

Probably because people prefer to work on new stuff than fix issues.  It takes 
a fair amount of work to submit PRs and I would suggest that people only do 
this for the things that are important to them.

Sadly this is human nature.

Regards,
Mark
-------------------------------------------
Mark Stevens
Blog: blog.mark-stevens.co.uk


> On 16 Jul 2026, at 00:40, Lwazi Dube <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> Our argument takes it for granted that AI is here to stay as a tool, making
> any explicit reminder unnecessary. We want to keep our open-source projects
> free of AI-generated code. A similar stance by our predecessors is what
> gave us this ecosystem that will be lost if we let algorithms write the
> future of open source.
> Besides, if AI is really that good for NuttX, why aren't we seeing the
> issue count go down?
> 
> On Wed, 15 Jul 2026 at 15:35, Alan C. Assis <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
>> Exactly!!!
>> 
>> Again, AI is just a tool. If the user doesn't know how to use it correctly,
>> it will produce bad quality code (slop).
>> 
>> But if the user sends the right instructions and spends time refining the
>> result, it will produce high quality code (even better than many
>> experienced developers).
>> 
>> There are some steps that people need to follow: define the right scope;
>> don't ask the AI to fix the code; ask it to debug and find the root causes
>> and to explain it to you.
>> Only after that you should work with the AI to implement something.
>> 
>> BR,
>> 
>> Alan
>> 
>> 
>> On Wed, Jul 15, 2026 at 3:10 PM Mark Stevens via dev <[email protected]
>>> 
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> It does not matter whether you like AI or not, it is here to stay, plain
>>> and simple, it is here, being used and is not going to go away any time
>>> soon, if at all.
>>> 
>>> If the aim of the project is to promote and increase the use of NuttX
>> then
>>> having any policy that forbids its use will have a negative effect on
>> both
>>> of these aims.  You will either push people away from the project or push
>>> them away from sharing their work.
>>> 
>>> For me the question is not about the tool, it is about the quality of the
>>> output:
>>> 
>>> * Code should be correct and concise
>>> * Code should be well documented and confirm to coding standards
>>> * PRs should be to the point and not overly verbose
>>> 
>>> And finally, PRs are the ownership of a person, the person is responsible
>>> for all of the above.
>>> 
>>> I can see the problem with large (or large numbers of) PRs being
>> submitted
>>> by AI bots.  This is a technical problem created by technology and
>> having a
>>> policy is not going to stop that.
>>> 
>>> The only sticking point really is copyright.  This has always been an
>>> issue even without AI.  How many people here have used code from Stack
>>> Overflow?  Did you verify the copyright before you used an answer?  Did
>> the
>>> person posting an answer ensure that their post did not breach copyright?
>>> 
>>> Regards,
>>> Mark
>>> -------------------------------------------
>>> Mark Stevens
>>> Blog: blog.mark-stevens.co.uk
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On 15 Jul 2026, at 15:53, Matteo Golin <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Hello Lwazi,
>>>> 
>>>> Here is the earlier thread from another discussion about an AI policy:
>>>> https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg14358.html
>>>> 
>>>> I agree with you that I do not want AI-generated code in NuttX, but
>> many
>>> of
>>>> our contributors have and still do use AI tools for their development
>>>> process. We have to have a discussion and accept a policy that the
>>>> community endorses, even if that means making some compromises. This is
>>> why
>>>> it's important to contribute to this discussion, and when we move to a
>>>> vote, to make sure you vote whichever way you're inclined.
>>>> 
>>>> Matteo
>>>> 
>>>> On Wed, Jul 15, 2026 at 4:21 AM Sebastien Lorquet <
>> [email protected]>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Hello,
>>>>> 
>>>>> I agree with you but unfortunately, we're way past this stage already.
>>>>> 
>>>>> The usage of AI in NuttX was started "as a normal thing to do" even
>>>>> before permission was requested and things were discussed on the
>> mailing
>>>>> list.
>>>>> 
>>>>> This is pretty much a tainted project and it has been for months, and
>>>>> there is no turning back at this point.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Sebastien
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> On 7/15/26 06:36, Lwazi Dube wrote:
>>>>>> Was there an option presented for those of us who want to keep our
>>>>>> open-source projects 100% free of AI-generated code? That discussion
>>>>>> absolutely should have happened. If there’s a link to it, please
>>>>>> share—imposing these tools on people who didn't ask for them is not
>>>>>> acceptable.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Wed, 1 Jul 2026 at 11:47, Matteo Golin <[email protected]>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Hello everyone,
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> NuttX still has not adopted an AI policy, and the number of
>>>>> substantially
>>>>>>> AI-generated contributions is continuing to grow. Recently, the
>> Godot
>>>>>>> project adopted a new AI policy which I think is quite reasonable.
>> [1]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> I would like to suggest that NuttX adopt the AI policy from Godot
>> [1]
>>>>>>> (slightly modified for more clarity), as follows, and include it in
>>> our
>>>>>>> contribution guide:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> - *No autonomous AI agent use or vibe coding*
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>   - A human must be involved in the coding process if patches are
>>>>>>> submitted
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> - *No use of AI to generate substantial pieces of code*
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>   - We require all code to be human authored. AI assistance should
>> be
>>>>>>>   limited to menial things (like code completion, regex,
>> formatting,
>>>>> or
>>>>>>> find
>>>>>>>   and replace).
>>>>>>>   - If you do use AI in some capacity to author code, you must
>>>>> disclose it
>>>>>>>   in the PR discussion.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> - *No AI-generated text in human-to-human communication*
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>   - When our maintainers volunteer their time to review your issue,
>>>>> PR, or
>>>>>>>   proposal, they do not want to talk to a machine. This is a basic
>>>>>>> principle
>>>>>>>   of respect.
>>>>>>>   - Machine translations are still acceptable as long as the
>> original
>>>>>>>   content was written by a human.
>>>>>>>   - This includes PR descriptions and comments.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> - *All PRs must be reviewed and approved by a human before merging*
>>>>>>> Please let me know your thoughts, I really think it is time to adopt
>>>>> this
>>>>>>> change as I am seeing more and more frequently that substantially
>>>>>>> AI-generated PRs are submitted (what is really most frustrating is
>> its
>>>>> use
>>>>>>> in human-to-human communication).
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Best,
>>>>>>> Matteo
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [1]: https://godotengine.org/article/contribution-policy-2026/
>>>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>> 

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