Torvalds: AI Tools Great When Not Causing Unnecessary Pain & Pointless Make-Believe Work
([Linux Kernel] 4 Hours Ago
Torvalds On AI Tools)
- Reference: 0001634403
- News link: https://www.phoronix.com/news/Torvalds-AI-Tools-Can-Be-Great
- Source link:
With yesterday's [1]Linux 7.1-rc4 release are some additional comments by Linux creator Linus Torvalds around AI tooling and the surge in security bug reporting to the Linux kernel due to said LLM-powered tooling.
With the uptick in "security reports" generated by AI/LLM tooling, there has been lots of duplicated bug reports from different users reporting their findings from large language models. There have also been many security reports for ancient, ill-maintained drivers and other scenarios where the security reports are ultimately not meaningful or impactful to users in 2026. This has caused an additional burden on Linux kernel maintainers and a waste of time in some regards.
Granted, it was also Linus Torvalds who recently said [2]"The AI Slop Issue Is *NOT* Going To Be Solved With Documentation" .
That led to the new kernel documentation covered last week around [3]responsible AI use and what is considered a security report .
Linus Torvalds wrote in the [4]7.1-rc4 announcement :
"Some of the documentation updates might be worth highlighting: the continued flood of AI reports has basically made the security list almost entirely unmanageable, with enormous duplication due to different people finding the same things with the same tools. People spend all their time just forwarding things to the right people or saying "that was already fixed a week/month ago" and pointing to the public discussion.
Which is all entirely pointless churn, and we're making it clear that AI detected bugs are pretty much by definition not secret, and treating them on some private list is a waste of time for everybody involved - and only makes that duplication worse because the reporters can't even see each other's reports.
AI tools are great, but only if they actually help, rather than cause unnecessary pain and pointless make-believe work. Feel free to use them, but use them in a way that is productive and makes for a better experience.
The documentation may be a bit less blunt than I am, but that's the core gist of it. So just to make it really clear: if you found a bug using AI tools, the chances are somebody else found it too. If you actually want to add value, read the documentation, create a patch too, and add some real value on *top* of what the AI did. Don't be the drive-by "send a random report with no real understanding" kind of person. Ok?"
[1] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-7.1-rc4-Released
[2] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Torvalds-Linux-Kernel-AI-Slop
[3] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-7.1-Kernel-Docs-AI-Bugs
[4] https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/CAHk-=wi+JvcuKF2NaD_rGiYrwkR6rxh_2XZmx8BbYm00D1CvTA@mail.gmail.com/
With the uptick in "security reports" generated by AI/LLM tooling, there has been lots of duplicated bug reports from different users reporting their findings from large language models. There have also been many security reports for ancient, ill-maintained drivers and other scenarios where the security reports are ultimately not meaningful or impactful to users in 2026. This has caused an additional burden on Linux kernel maintainers and a waste of time in some regards.
Granted, it was also Linus Torvalds who recently said [2]"The AI Slop Issue Is *NOT* Going To Be Solved With Documentation" .
That led to the new kernel documentation covered last week around [3]responsible AI use and what is considered a security report .
Linus Torvalds wrote in the [4]7.1-rc4 announcement :
"Some of the documentation updates might be worth highlighting: the continued flood of AI reports has basically made the security list almost entirely unmanageable, with enormous duplication due to different people finding the same things with the same tools. People spend all their time just forwarding things to the right people or saying "that was already fixed a week/month ago" and pointing to the public discussion.
Which is all entirely pointless churn, and we're making it clear that AI detected bugs are pretty much by definition not secret, and treating them on some private list is a waste of time for everybody involved - and only makes that duplication worse because the reporters can't even see each other's reports.
AI tools are great, but only if they actually help, rather than cause unnecessary pain and pointless make-believe work. Feel free to use them, but use them in a way that is productive and makes for a better experience.
The documentation may be a bit less blunt than I am, but that's the core gist of it. So just to make it really clear: if you found a bug using AI tools, the chances are somebody else found it too. If you actually want to add value, read the documentation, create a patch too, and add some real value on *top* of what the AI did. Don't be the drive-by "send a random report with no real understanding" kind of person. Ok?"
[1] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-7.1-rc4-Released
[2] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Torvalds-Linux-Kernel-AI-Slop
[3] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-7.1-Kernel-Docs-AI-Bugs
[4] https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/CAHk-=wi+JvcuKF2NaD_rGiYrwkR6rxh_2XZmx8BbYm00D1CvTA@mail.gmail.com/