Post #823324

2026-03-27 18:23 UTC

if you&#39;re using AI regularly to generate text/presentations that you intend to use persuasively i don&#39;t think i can trust a single thing you say. Where does the AI end and the human begin? I think this is why im so against AI generated commit messages especially if the code was written by a human, you wrote the code so you should be able to demonstrate that you understand what the change does and why. If you&#39;re deferring that to an AI and you made a subtle logic error that it decides to justify for you suddenly we have obfuscated our own fucking zero days. Good luck finding the bug if the commit message describes the error as if it was intentional. For general text, if you start with the conclusion and let the AI write the justification then there is no justification!!! Details matter, having a paper trail for decision making matters. I wonder how many executives will escape the consequences of their white collar crimes by blaming AI. AI zombification is coming and it&#39;s going to create a distinct difference in communication styles between those who do and don&#39;t use it, honestly that point is already here. And we&#39;re gonna find out yet again that marx was right when it becomes clear that AI usage correlates with class lines.

Replies (8)

@cadey@pony.social 2026-03-27 18:24

@cas At some level I agree re AI generated commit messages. At another I've had to deal with so many "some small fixes" commits that I'd almost rather have the slop machine give something at least somewhat relevant to what the "small fixes" were.

Open ##1953535
@hipsterelectron@circumstances.run 2026-03-27 18:53

@cas people currently right now inject vulnerabilities into our shared source code by doing exactly as you describe and describing it as intentional. about 6 commits by red hat / IBM engineer david howells in linux-crypto were live on his linux-fs fork from friday to late sunday, before he reset and force pushed. linus agreed with include/crypto/public_key.h turning digest_size -> m_size. he was able to hide these commits not through "AI" (arguably it wasn't hidden at all) but at each point relying upon the right people to not say a thing. i throughout monday and tuesday i recorded ingo molnar adding a make syncconfig that weaponizes the howells config. i guess it makes sense that PREEMPT_RT was actually a fiction—it makes more sense than a monolithic kernel doing anything by half

Open ##1953543
@matthewcroughan@social.defenestrate.it 2026-03-27 20:16

It has been devastating to watch AI go from interesting and maybe something I'd like to get into and support the open source aspects of, to a destructive pollutant of mind, planet and soul with trust eroding social consequences. It is so fucking boring and annoying.

Open ##1953548
@ariadne@social.treehouse.systems 2026-03-28 10:48

@cas AI commit messages are an excellent way to shoot yourself in the foot

Open ##1953551
@colinstu@birdbutt.com 2026-03-28 12:52

@cas @ariadne “don’t trust, verify everything” is the overwhelming feeling I see from all genAI/LLM output. If I’m trying to watch or learn from someone, the last thing I need is to not actually believe or trust every single word they say, and have to question all of it. I’ll just find someone who actually finds it worth it to just use their own brain.

Open ##1953552
@yon@sakurajima.moe 2026-03-28 17:25

@cas Why is the keyword here. What I can read from the code, why I can’t. Neither can an AI.

Open ##1953553
@sbysb@infosec.exchange 2026-03-28 18:23

@cas I agree completely regarding things you are intending for communication. That being said, my line for 'communication' in a shared repository is at the PR level. I would much rather have extremely accurate and over documented commit messages made by AI paired with an 'artisanal' human written message for **why** the change needs to happen, and what they where thinking when they made the change. I feel like I am only really reading commit messages to figure out why a bug happened, and having very thorough (honestly usually too thorough) commit messages is nice.

Open ##1953554
@fun@berkeley.edu.pl 2026-04-11 21:12

@cas as we say, if you can't explain what you did to another person, it means you don't know what you're doing.

Open ##1953560