Popular PlayStation emulator clamps down on AI submissions: 'Leave behind something useful to humanity when you're gone, instead of peddling slop'

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Open-source dev teams have been fighting a rising tide of AI slop contributions ever since LLM tech was loosed upon the Earth, as we documented earlier this year with news that free and open-source game engine Godot was buckling under the weight of AI-generated pull requests (or PRs—that is, code contributions asking to be 'pulled' into the main project).

Well, here's another one. As spotted by GamingOnLinux, popular PS3 emulator RPCS3 has had to come out swinging against the number of LLM-generated pull requests currently being submitted to the project. In a post on X, the devs put it plain: "Please stop submitting AI slop code pull requests to RPCS3. We will start banning those who do without disclosing.

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Expanding in the replies, the team wrote that RPCS3 has been receiving greater and greater numbers of AI-generated PRs for its macOS build in particular, which most of the project's team do not use save one member, who also handles most of the testing for the emulator on Apple systems. "We have had to revert a few slop PRs that caused big regressions a few times, enough is enough," wrote the team.

In response to questions (and more than a little AI evangelist bellyaching), the devs pointed out that it is not the use of AI code in PRs that is the issue for them, but that it is undisclosed. "We won't ban if disclosed, except for abuse cases, e.g. throwing a lot of random slop at us to see what passes reviews. Hint: programmers that can understand the problem, the solution, and the implementation can write the same code without AI, and tend to use LLMs to automate repetitive code refactoring instead. It is not the case with the AI slop PRs we have seen."

The final result is a new set of hard-and-fast rules about AI code right there on RPCS3's GitHub repo: "Use of AI tools for research and reverse engineering purposes is permitted. However, contributors are expected to fully own and understand all code they submit. Any communication with the team—including code, code comments, and GitHub comments—must come from the human contributor, not an AI agent acting autonomously."

Back on X, the team signed off with a final message: "As for all the AI bros seething on our socials, we're simply blocking you. Learn how to debug, code, and leave behind something useful to humanity when you're gone, instead of peddling slop."

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.