WordPress has rolled out new comprehensive guidelines for contributors on the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) across its ecosystem. These guidelines aim to ensure that all AI-assisted contributions—including code for plugins and themes, documentation, and media assets—adhere to the platform's core principles of transparency, GPL compatibility, and human accountability, while maintaining high quality standards and combating what it terms "AI slop."

Five Core Principles for AI Use

The new WordPress AI guidelines are built upon five foundational principles designed to steer contributors toward ethical and effective AI integration:

  • “You are responsible for your contributions (AI can assist, but it isn’t a contributor).”
  • “Disclose meaningful AI assistance in your PR description and/or Trac ticket comment.”
  • “License compatibility matters: contributions must remain compatible with GPLv2-or-later, including AI-assisted output.”
  • “Non-code assets count too (docs, screenshots, images, educational materials).”
  • “Quality over volume: avoid low-signal, unverified ‘AI slop’; reviewers may close or reject work that doesn’t meet the bar.”

Transparency in AI Assistance

A key aspect of the new guidelines is the emphasis on transparency. Contributors are encouraged to clearly disclose when and how AI tools were used in their work. This disclosure is crucial for reviewers, allowing them to properly evaluate the submission with full awareness of its AI-assisted components.

Ensuring GPL Compatibility and Tool Choice

Licensing is a cornerstone of the WordPress project, which operates as a fully open-source publishing platform under the GPLv2 framework. Consequently, all contributions, including plugins and themes, must also be open source and compatible with GPLv2. The guidelines explicitly state that AI cannot be used if its output is not licensable under GPLv2.

Furthermore, contributors are warned against using AI tools whose terms of service forbid the use of their output in GPL-licensed projects or impose additional redistribution restrictions. The guidelines also caution against using AI tools to “launder” incompatible licenses, stressing that if an AI output reproduces non-free or incompatible code, it cannot be included in WordPress projects.

Addressing and Avoiding "AI Slop"

The guidelines directly confront the issue of "AI slop," defining it as low-quality AI-generated content that lacks human insight or verification. This includes hallucinated references (such as non-existent links or APIs), overly complicated code where simpler solutions exist, and generic GitHub Pull Requests (PRs) that do not reflect actual testing or experience.

To combat "AI slop," WordPress provides clear recommendations for contributors:

  • “Use AI to draft, then review yourself.”
  • “Submit PRs (or patches) that are small, concise and with atomic and well defined commit messages to make reviewing easier.”
  • “Run and document real tests.”
  • “Link to real Trac tickets, GitHub issues, or documentation that you have verified.”

The guidelines empower WordPress contributors responsible for overseeing and reviewing project changes to close or reject submissions deemed "AI slop" with "little added human insight," reinforcing the commitment to quality.

Key Takeaways

The new WordPress AI guidelines are a proactive step towards preserving trust within the contribution process as AI tools become more prevalent in development, documentation, and media creation. Rather than discouraging AI use, the guidelines promote its responsible application. By mandating disclosure, enforcing GPL compatibility, and granting maintainers the authority to reject low-quality submissions, WordPress establishes clear boundaries. These measures are designed to protect both the legal integrity of the open-source project and the valuable time of its dedicated reviewers, ensuring a high standard for all contributions.