[jameslk]

It seems open source loses the most from AI. Open source code trained the models, the models are being used to spam open source projects anywhere there's incentive, they can be used to chip away at open source business models by implementing paid features and providing the support, and eventually perhaps AI simply replaces most open source code

[dada78641]

It has also really accelerated the army of hustlers who can't actually code but want to get a contributor badge on major repos to put on their resume.

It's not like this sort of hustling didn't exist prior to LLMs but the volume has ballooned massively.

[mrguyorama]

Any system of cheaply generating mediocre quality inherently benefits spammers and grifters more than anyone else.

Their biggest limiting factor is always the cost of generating mediocre content. Removing that barrier was the dumbest thing to do in the world.

[pravj]

Extending on the same line, we will see programs like Google Summer of Code (GSoC) getting a massive revamp, or they will stop operating.

From my failed attempt, I remember that

- Students had to find a project matching their interests/skills and start contributing early.

- We used to talk about staying away from some projects with a low supply of students applying (or lurking in the GitHub/BitBucket issues) because of the complexity required for the projects.

Both of these acted as a creative filter for projects and landed them good students/contributors, but it completely goes away with AI being able to do that at scale.

[delfinom]

GSoC 4 years ago removed the need for their to be actual students to apply. We got flooded with middle aged men working 9-5s applying. It was dumb and we stopped participating. Their incentives were literally "extra income" instead of learning or participating beyond that.

[bawolff]

> they can be used to chip away at open source business models by implementing paid features and providing the support

There are a lot of things to be sad about AI, but this is not it. Nobody has a right to a business model, especially one that assumes nobody will compete with you. If your business model relies on the rest of the world bring sucky so you can sell some value-added to open-core software, i'm happy when it fails.

[anileated]

When LLMs are based on stolen work and violate GPL terms, which should be already illegal, it's very much okay to be furious about the fact that they additionally ruin respective business models of open source, thanks to which they are possible in the guest place.

[sevenzero]

Competition is extremely important yes. But not the kind of competition, backed by companies that have much bigger monetary assets, to overwhelm projects based on community effort just to trample it down. The FFMPEG Google stuff as an example.

[acdha]

I wouldn’t see it as having a “right” to a business model but more like an accelerated tragedy of the commons. LLMs can’t reason but they can chip away at the easiest parts of the job, which is great initially if you can take advantage of that but it means fewer people will put free things in the commons or develop the skills needed to do what LLMs fail at. This feels like the way bars changed their “free lunch” specials a century ago to prevent people from costing them money: nobody has a right to it, etc. but the free loader problem leads to something many people like going away.

[giancarlostoro]

I wouldn't say open source code solely trained the models, surely there are CS courses and textbooks, official documentation as well as transcripts of talks and courses all factor in as well.

On another note, regarding AI replacing most open source code. I forget what tool it was, but I had a need for a very niche way of accessing an old Android device it was rooted, but if I used something like Disk Drill it would eventually crap out empty files. So I found a GUI someone made, and started asking Claude to add things I needed for it to a) let me preview directories it was seeing and b) let me sudo up, and let me download with a reasonable delay (1s I think) which basically worked, I never had issues again, it was a little slow to recover old photos, but oh well.

I debated pushing the code changes back into github, it works as expected, but it drifted from the maintainers own goals I'm sure.

[shubhamjain]

I feel AI will have the same effect degrading Internet as social media did. This flood of dumb PRs, issues is one symptom of it. Other is AI accelerating the trend which TikTok started—short, shallow, low-effort content.

It's a shame since this technology is brilliant. But every tech company has drank the “AI is the future” Kool-aid, which means no one has incentive to seriously push back against the flood of low-effort, AI-generated slop. So, it's going to be race to the bottom for a while.

[killerstorm]

I think "internet" needs a shared reputation & identity layer - i.e. if somebody offers a comment/review/contribution/etc, it should be easy to check - what else are their contributing, who can vouch for them, etc.

Most of innovation came from web startups who are just not interest in "shared" anything: they want to be a monopoly, "own" users, etc. So this area has been neglected, and then people got used to status quo.

PGP / GPG used to have web-of-trust but that sort of just died.

People either need to resurrect WoT updated for modern era, or just accept the fact that everything is spammed into smithereens. Blaming AI and social media does not help.

[sevenzero]

It'll stop soonish. The industry is now financed by debt rather than monetary assets that actually exist. Tons of companies see zero gain from AI as its reported repeatedly here on HN. So all the LLM vendors will eventually have to enshittify their products (most likely through ads, shorter token windows, higher pricing and whatnot). As of now, not a sustainable business model thankfully. The only sad part is that this debt will hit the poorest people most.

[epolanski]

AI is not submitting the slop, people are.

This is not a technology, but ethics and respect problem.

From the same article:

> Not all AI-generated bug reports are nonsense. It’s not possible to determine the exact share, but Daniel Stenberg knows of more than a hundred good AI assisted reports that led to corrections.

Meaning: developers and researchers who use the tool as it's meant to work, as a tool, are leveraging it to improve curl. But they are not skipping the part of understanding the content of their reports, testing it, and only then submitting it.

[account42]

Technically true but that argument also won't let you bring your gun on a plane.

[blibble]

"AI" kills every part of open source

it kills the incentive to contribute, the incentive to maintain, the incentive to learn, the incentive to collaborate, and the ability to build a business based on your work

and it even kills the idea of traditional employment writing non-open source code

all so three USian companies can race to the bottom to sell your former employer a subscription based on your own previous work

[TechSquidTV]

I couldn't possibly disagree more. AI has created an entirely new way to contribute to open source. You can not, in addition to donating to the maintainers, donate your _tokens_ to fix bugs.

[ValveFan6969]

"open source" and "business model" in the same sentence... next you're gonna tell me to eat pudding with a fork.

[jameslk]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_models_for_open-sourc...

I think you should try eating pudding with a fork next

[Grollicus]

Just leaving this here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pudding_mit_Gabel

[Aeglaecia]

i believe that the existence of not for profit organizations is a valid counterpoint to whatever your argument is

[timeon]

> next you're gonna tell me to eat pudding with a fork

Depends if you are in UK or not.

[GardenLetter27]

How so? I think the Bazaar model has the most to gain - contributors can use LLMs to create PRs, and you can choose from a vast array of projects depending on how much you trust vibe coding.

[meibo]

Most of the drive-by LLM PRs we get are useless, waste our time and are super verbose on top of that. I don't review code like that anymore.