COSMIC shuts the door on AI code as GNOME debates letting bug reports in

System76, the creators of the COSMIC desktop environment, have banned AI-generated content from all contributions to the project. This includes code, comments, descriptions, and even submission requests. Contributors must declare that they have not included any AI-generated material in their PRs. This stance is in line with other desktop projects, such as GNOME, which also disallow AI-generated contributions but allow AI for learning aids and code completion.

GNOME's GNOME Calendar guide explicitly states that they do not permit contributions generated by large language models (LLMs) or chatbots. GNOME Extensions permits AI learning aids and code completion, but disallows AI-generated submissions. One developer from COSMIC is asking GNOME to consider making an exception for AI-generated bug reports.

COSMIC, a relatively new Linux desktop environment, is written in Rust using the Iced toolkit and is Wayland-only. It is older than ChatGPT but shares similarities with GNOME due to its heavy customization with GNOME extensions. GNOME, a much older and larger project, has faced criticism for its reliance on memory-unsafe languages like C, C++, and Vala, which can lead to security vulnerabilities.

Developer Michael Catanzaro has urged the GNOME project to accept AI-generated bug reports, arguing that the complexity of these languages makes it difficult for developers to write secure code.