In the era of AI it's easier than ever to be an Open Source contributor!
But, at the same time, and quite paradoxically, it's harder than ever.
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Well put. I'm pretty enthusiastic about the good parts of AI in the open source supply chain, but we are in a state of messiness and lack of slop mitigation right now to say the least.
Absolutely. I hope we learn how to use AI the right way, so it serves its purpose of enabling everyone to be better.
Brutal honesty!
I found your reasoning and your vision really interesting.
To me, AI-generated code feels like another step in a long history of abstraction in computer science. We've always built layers: compilers, frameworks, APIs, each one moving us further from the machine while making development more accessible.
There’s an old meme that says: “If your code doesn’t work, blame the compiler.” It’s funny, but it also highlights something important: abstractions don’t remove understanding, they just move the boundary of where we choose to look.
Nothing really prevents us from going deeper; whether it's frameworks, compilers, or now LLM-generated code. The real skill might simply shift toward knowing when to trust the abstraction and when to look underneath it.
That’s a good synthesis. AI creates abstractions, if we don’t aim to understand them, we’re gonna just be lost.
Wise words over here. Without context we are doom with or without LLMs.
Love the catchy title. Great post!!
Great read! In the AI era, it's spot on—code is commoditized, but reputation is the real moat. I've seen devs pivot from churning out boilerplate to curating high-signal portfolios with AI-assisted prototypes that solve real pain points. What's your top tip for building that "trust at first glance" rep?
I’d say you need to show high quality code from the beginning. If you’re writing an issue/PR it should be well crafted. Care for the details, when you show you care, we care.
Makes sense 😊
One thing I learned is that you cannot prompt what you don't know exists․ You might read the docs and feel like you've learned all there is to know, but you'll only truly understand how things work when you see the source code behind them․
Curious , when reviewing a new contributor's first PR, what's the one thing that makes you think "this person gets it"?
Quality. Showing you care even for small details. And showing that you invested yourself in the production of it, even if you were helped by AI.
You cannot tell 100% if all good PRs are human or AI, but you can always identify slop PRs from the rest.
A very good and detailed post. something with which all open source maintainers can relate to. (Written without AI)
Great read!
I've recently started contributing to open source and this kind of helped me get my mindset right. Thanks for sharing your experience :)
This really changed how I think about contributing
Thanks for sharing