The creator of Linux and Git said AI coding had been “disruptive” to the Linux kernel, but described AI tools as a “wonderful gateway drug” for young developers during a talk at Open Source Summit Europe today.
During a keynote interview at the Linux Foundation event in Prague, Linus Torvalds said he “actually really likes using AI” despite past concerns, but said developers should be very careful using AI tools for “something real and important”.
He told the audience AI code had been "disruptive" for the Linux kernel: "We're getting a lot more of these random patches: sometimes to very important and very real security issues, and sometimes to things that nobody has touched in 20 years.”
AI is “on the whole improving our codebase”, he added, but said the disruption was also “stressing maintainers out to the point that it's a problem”.
