RPCS3 updates contribution guidelines after AI slop code caused regressions in PS3 emulator

RPCS3 updates its contribution guidelines after AI-generated 'slop' pull requests caused regressions in the PS3 emulator

PlayStation 3 emulator RPCS3 is pushing back against a wave of AI-generated code submissions to its open-source GitHub project. The team has updated its guidelines and now requires contributors to fully understand and own the code they submit, even if AI was used during the research process. The new rules arrived just a day after the team posted on the social media platform X, pushing back against the barrage of AI pull requests hitting the project. RPCS3 reported having to revert multiple "slop PRs" that slipped through and caused major regressions in the emulator, requiring significant extra work from the team to fix. The updated guidelines do not ban AI-generated code outright but require contributors to disclose any use of AI and take full responsibility for what they submit. All communications with the RPCS3 team must be handled by a human contributor, and pull requests that do not disclose AI use may be closed without review. "Please stop submitting AI slop code pull requests to RPCS3. We will start banning those who do without disclosing," the official RPCS3 account wrote. "There are plenty of resources online to learn how to debug and code instead of generating slop that you don't understand and that doesn't work." The core problem, as the team sees it, is that many people submitting AI-generated code lack the experience to spot bugs and other issues. This poor-quality code introduces new bugs, causes performance issues, and creates extra work for developers. The team drew a distinction between experienced developers who use LLMs to automate repetitive refactoring and the kind of submissions it has been seeing lately, noting bluntly: "You can't possibly handwrite the type of sh*t AI slop we have been seeing." As you can imagine, the pushback drew backlash from pro-AI accounts, but the RPCS3 team doesn't really seem to care, arguing that it "reached maturity with 70% playable games" several years ago, before LLMs became a thing. It even called out the critics, saying, "As for all the AI bros seething on our socials, we're simply blocking you." And added, "Learn how to debug, code, and leave behind something useful to humanity when you're gone, instead of peddling slop." It is worth noting that nobody on the RPCS3 team is paid for their work. The project is entirely passion-driven, and that passion has produced significant achievements, particularly this year's feat of emulating the notoriously complex Cell CPU architecture. The new guidelines do not appear to be an attack on AI as a tool. Instead, they read more like a straightforward request for contributors to respect the project, understand the code they submit, and avoid wasting the team's time with untested or unverified pull requests.

"Stop submitting AI slop code": PS3 emulator RPCS3 shuts down vibe coders, tells them to "learn how to debug, code, and leave behind something useful to humanity when you're gone"

"There are plenty of resources online to learn how to debug and code instead of generating slop that you don't understand and that doesn't work" The people behind the open source PS3 emulator RPCS3 are sick of dealing with bad code submissions from AI users, and are telling vibe coders exactly where they can stick it. The project has updated its policies on AI use, promising to ban anyone who tries to pass off AI-generated work as their own, and the team has been making its feelings on "AI slop" known on social media. "Please stop submitting AI slop code pull requests to RPCS3," reads a tweet from RPCS3 posted on May 9 (thanks, Time Extension). "We will start banning those who do without disclosing. There are plenty of resources online to learn how to debug and code instead of generating slop that you don't understand and that doesn't work." As open-source software, anyone is free to make contributions to RPCS3 through pull requests. If the project's maintainers think it's a valuable addition, they'll then merge that update code into their main release. The rise of AI-generated code - typically known as "vibe coding" within the community - means it's suddenly a lot easier for anyone to make submissions, even if they haven't thoroughly tested them beforehand. That's created some headaches for RPCS3's developers. AI adherents will tell you that vibe coding is great - heck, even Gabe Newell has been singing AI's praises from a coding perspective - but that's not what RPCS3 has been seeing. Addressing concerns that they might end up banning legitimate code with these policies, the devs respond, "It either is obviously slop or isn't. You can't possibly handwrite the type of shit AI slop we have been seeing." In another tweet, they say that "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." To that end, they're not fully banning AI-generated code - they're simply requiring submissions to designate which parts were vibe-coded. "Pull requests opened by AI agents or automated tools must include a disclosure in the PR description stating the scope of AI involvement - which parts were AI-generated and what human testing or review was performed prior to submission," according to the newly updated readme on Github. "PRs that omit this disclosure may be closed without review." "As for all the AI bros seething on our socials, we're simply blocking you," the devs say in one last tweet. "Learn how to debug, code, and leave behind something useful to humanity when you're gone, instead of peddling slop."