I Am Not a Reverse Centaur
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
Open source maintainer closes unsolicited pull requests to avoid becoming a "reverse centaur" reviewing LLM-generated code.
Miguel Grinberg reports a surge in LLM-generated pull requests to his open source projects. He rejects unsolicited contributions, citing Cory Doctorow's term "reverse centaur" to describe maintainers puppeteered by machines into endless code review. Grinberg now requires contributors to discuss changes in issues before submitting PRs, aiming to ensure human intent and engagement. He acknowledges this may miss useful fixes but views reviewing LLM slop as incompatible with his values. He also questions whether open source still matters as fewer people code and more delegate to AI systems.
What commenters are saying
Commenters split on whether open source remains viable. Some argue quality libraries survive through reputation and test coverage, with LLM tools helping non-programmers finally build software. Others worry LLM-generated code erodes discovery of quality libraries and violates copyleft principles. A recurring tension: Group A (non-coders using LLMs) now forces changes without understanding their consequences, while Group B (experienced maintainers) must decide whether to absorb this labor. One commenter notes that LLMs trained on quality libraries sometimes recommend those libraries back, occasionally validating their existence.