Re: [PHP-DEV] AI generated mails

On Tue, Aug 25, 2026, at 10:25 AM, Derick Rethans wrote:

>> > As I'm expecting more and more generated mails on this list: What is 
>> > the feeling on the mailing list about how to handle this?
>> 
>> Since this isn't the first time this has come up, I'd like to ask 
>> whether it's time internals discussed an AI-usage policy?
>
> Yes, this is long overdue.
>
> For now, I will talk about this mailinglist first (and only).
>
> With that, we end up with drivel like this: 
> https://externals.io/message/132300#132332 (au contraire the acceptance 
> to not do this, as per https://externals.io/message/132300#132317).
>
> This is a list for *people* to discuss the PHP language, its features, 
> and its policies.
>
> Therefore, a policy for this list ought to be that you *have* to write 
> the content yourself. If that means writing it in non-English and 
> feeding it through a *translating-LLM* only, that that seems reasonable.
>
> What does not seem reasonable is to ask a tool to write the text for 
> you, and then copy and pasting this as a reply to this list — especially 
> because it doesn't deal with the trimming and quoting (as per our 
> guidelines at 
> https://github.com/php/php-src/blob/master/docs/mailinglist-rules.md ).
>
> cheers,
> Derick

I agree with Derick.  Using a translator to assist with a language barrier is reasonable, and these days they've all been replaced with LLMs (justified or not).  But I would still prefer to have that explicitly stated, so we know what we're dealing with.  (And can use simpler English in replies, potentially, to aid with understanding.)

Beyond that, I want to talk to humans, not slop machines.  If someone's diplomatic skills are not up to the task of discussing on the list without filtering through a chatbot, then they need to work on their diplomatic skills before subjecting us to slop.

--Larry Garfield