Abstract:
Generative artificial intelligence is significantly changing the open source software development model, according to a new study released by the Linux Foundation Research and sponsored by Red Hat. The survey results show that AI tools can help developers reduce code writing time by about half and significantly improve development efficiency. However, at the same time, they also bring increasing audit pressure to open source project maintainers.
The report points out that with the widespread application of generative AI in the software development process, the number of code contributions received by open source projects has increased significantly. About 59% of project maintainers said that project contributions have continued to increase since the popularity of AI tools; for large open source projects, this proportion further increased to 69%.
However, an increase in the number of contributions does not necessarily mean a simultaneous increase in quality. The study found that about 25% of code merge requests (Pull Requests) are considered by maintainers to be low-quality content, often referred to as "AI Slop", that is, code or modification suggestions generated by artificial intelligence but lacking sufficient verification and quality control. In large projects, this proportion even reaches 31%.
Nevertheless, research has also confirmed the positive role of generative AI in improving productivity. The developers interviewed generally believe that AI tools can significantly speed up the process of code writing and technical solution discussion. The report points out that whether they are project contributors or maintainers, the efficiency improvement in most development tasks can reach up to 50%.
But researchers also found that generative AI does not improve efficiency in all scenarios. Among more complex development tasks, about 21% of respondents said that using AI would require more time. This group of developers believes that the amount of work required to review, correct, and verify AI-generated content offsets some of the efficiency gains.
The survey also found that developers usually reinvest the time they save into building an open source ecosystem. 66% of respondents said they used extra time to deal with long-term accumulated technical debt; 63% invested time in developing new features; and 58% chose to learn new technologies and improve professional skills.
In terms of project governance, the popularity of generative AI has exceeded the progress of rule construction in many open source communities. Research shows that only 35% of open source projects have established formal AI usage policies, while 32% of projects have not yet formulated relevant rules, but also have no plans to launch corresponding systems.
At the same time, most developers have realized the importance of AI code review. The survey found that 61% of contributors will proactively conduct detailed reviews and complete functional testing before submitting AI-generated code to ensure that the code can meet project requirements.
In response to the growing trend of AI-assisted development, the research team recommends that each open source project establish a clear AI contribution management system as soon as possible, including formulating written policies, improving development transparency, clarifying AI usage disclosure requirements, and unifying contribution attribution specifications. At the same time, maintainers should require contributors to complete necessary testing and documentation before submitting AI-assisted generated content to reduce the risk of low-quality code entering the core code base of the project.
Mark Collier, general manager of the AI and Infrastructure Department of the Linux Foundation, said that when measuring the impact of generative AI on the open source ecosystem, we should not only focus on productivity improvements, but also the quality of contributions and the overall health of the community. He believes that future investment in AI tools must be synchronized with continued investment in project maintainers, community mentors and collaboration mechanisms to ensure the long-term sustainable development of the open source ecosystem in the AI era.
Learn more:
https://www.linuxfoundation.org/research/oss-development-gen-ai-era-2026
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