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Re: AI slop "contributions" to IETF working groups

Brian E Carpenter <brian.e.carpenter@gmail.com> Mon, 09 February 2026 20:14 UTC

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Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2026 09:13:52 +1300
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Subject: Re: AI slop "contributions" to IETF working groups
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References: <7b702e8f-d2be-5b08-e262-33fbed538f98@foobar.org> <460BCE12-4C45-45D0-94C8-83B8E2D45049@gmail.com> <922b6d08-1cb5-4791-974f-ff17850de25f@gmail.com> <5DCE2993-39C8-4FAC-AD91-7B8E504E996C@gmail.com> <20260208015537.8D945F5944ED@ary.qy>
From: Brian E Carpenter <brian.e.carpenter@gmail.com>
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On 08-Feb-26 14:55, John Levine wrote:
> It appears that Bob Hinden  <bob.hinden@gmail.com> said:
>> I like the idea of requiring a disclosure that an Internet Draft was written with AI tools.  I agree probably not for emails.
> 
> I expect that the people whose drafts most suffer from being written by an LLM will lie about it, either because
> their English is too poor to understand the rules, or they have perverse incentives like an an employer that
> gives them a bonus for publishing an RFC.
> 
> Then what?  I'm not saying we shouldn't ask, but I'm saying we need to be prepared for noncompliance.

Of course, but if we make it a submission requirement - check the "AI used" box - there's really no harm, no shame.

Actually there are perhaps two boxes to check:

1. Was AI used in the production of this draft? [yes/no]
2. If yes, did the authors personally verify the AI-generated material? [yes/no]

The attachment was generated by ChatGPT.

    Brian

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