Linux kernel maintainer says AI has suddenly become useful for devs: 'We can't ignore this stuff. It's coming up, and it's getting better'

Linux kernel maintainer says AI has suddenly become useful for devs: ‘We can’t ignore this stuff. It’s coming up, and it’s getting better’ | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now PopularSpring SaleClipsCrimson DesertMarathonBest PC gearQuizzes Software Operating Systems Linux Linux kernel maintainer says AI has suddenly become useful for devs: ‘We can’t ignore this stuff. It’s coming up, and it’s getting better’ News By Jacob Fox published 27 March 2026 Though that’s primarily for security reports and code reviews at the moment. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Andy Nguyen) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter PC Gamer The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? 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Not necessarily for coding—although I’m sure that landscape is constantly evolving, too—but rather for generating security reports.Speaking to The Register, Linux Kernel dev Greg Kroah-Hartman explained that while previously “we were getting what we called ‘AI slop’… something happened a month ago, and the world switched. Now we have real reports.””All open source projects have real reports that are made with AI, but they’re good, and they’re real… All open source security teams are hitting this right now.”The question is why these actually useful AI-generated or AI-aided reports have started streaming in so suddenly, and unfortunately, the answer is unclear:”We don’t know. Nobody seems to know why. Either a lot more tools got a lot better, or people started going, ‘Hey, let’s start looking at this.’ It seems like lots of different groups, different companies… There must have been some inflection point somewhere with the tools. Did the local tools get better? Did people figure out something? I honestly don’t know.” Anecdotally, though, Kroah-Hartman can attest to AI’s usefulness for developer-related tasks such as code reviews:”I did a really stupid prompt. I said, ‘Give me this,’ and it spit out 60: ‘Here’s 60 problems I found, and here’s the fixes for them.’ About one-third were wrong, but they still pointed out a relatively real problem, and two-thirds of the patches were right.””The tools are good. We can’t ignore this stuff. It’s coming up, and it’s getting better.”I’m as much of an AI-sceptic as the next person when it comes to certain use cases or the industry at large, but there’s no denying it can be incredibly useful for particular tasks. Apparently, Linux kernel maintainers already have an AI code review system called Sashiko baked into their workflow. (Image credit: Future)It can all seem a very simple and easy proposition, with little downside, from the perspective of an end-user such as a dev using Sashiko or someone chatting to an LLM. But we should remember that that’s glossing over the tons of energy, resources, and market effects that have gone into laying the preconditions for those interactions: namely, server production, energy consumption, and the dreaded RAMpocalypse.But if all those resources can be used for something, I’ll take security reports and code reviews over, say, AI filter-esque DLSS5. Though I suspect I’m preaching to the choir, there.Best PC gaming kit 2026All our favorite gear1. Best gaming chair: Secretlab Titan Evo2. Best gaming desk: Secretlab Magnus Pro XL3. Best gaming headset: Razer BlackShark V34. Best gaming keyboard: Asus ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless5. Best gaming mouse: Razer DeathAdder V4 Pro6. Best PC controller: GameSir G7 Pro7. Best steering wheel: Logitech G Pro Racing Wheel8. Best microphone: Shure MV6 USB Gaming Microphone9. Best webcam: Elgato Facecam MK.2👉Check out our list of guides👈 Jacob FoxHardware WriterJacob got his hands on a gaming PC for the first time when he was about 12 years old. He swiftly realised the local PC repair store had ripped him off with his build and vowed never to let another soul build his rig again. With this vow, Jacob the hardware junkie was born. Since then, Jacob’s led a double-life as part-hardware geek, part-philosophy nerd, first working as a Hardware Writer for PCGamesN in 2020, then working towards a PhD in Philosophy for a few years while freelancing on the side for sites such as TechRadar, Pocket-lint, and you