[gdal-dev] Tightening AI based submission policy

[Nyall Dawson]

Hi list,

I'd like to propose that the GDAL project tighten its current policy
regarding submission of AI assisted contributions.

Currently the proposal is per
https://gdal.org/en/stable/community/ai_tool_policy.html#ai-tool-policy,
which sounds like a fair and safe policy. However, we've seen the GDAL
community torn apart recently even with this policy in place, so I'd argue
that the policy is too permissive and is placing too much burden on project
maintainers.

I'd also argue strongly that there's been a net loss in the sustainability,
stability and security of the GDAL project in recent months, as a direct
result of this.

For reference, the QGIS project introduced a moratorium on all forms of AI
developed submissions (see
https://github.com/qgis/QGIS-Enhancement-Proposals/blob/master/qep-408-ai-tool-policy.md),
which is now quite a blunt policy: "No LLM, AI or agent assisted code
contributions are allowed in the https://github.com/qgis/qgis repository.
If we subsequently discover that you have used an AI, LLM, or any
agent-based workflow for your contribution, you will be subject to code
reversion and contributor rights sanctioning.".  This is intended as a way
to block all forms of ai based submissions, until the project has had time
to properly step back and thoughtfully see how they impact on open-source
development (at which stages interested parties are invited to start
discussions on how to suitably and sustainably loosen this policy).

Perhaps a similar stance could be adapted for GDAL? To reiterate -- this
may not be a permanent, forever ban on AI based submissions. It's a
moratorium designed to protect the project and community until we can move
forward safely.

Thoughts?

Nyall
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