---
title: "Kenton Varda Bans AI-Written Change Descriptions, Calls Them 'Worse Than Useless'"
source: "Simon Willison 博客（Atom）"
source_tier: "t2"
url: "https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jul/8/kenton-varda/#atom-everything"
permalink: "https://feed.astralor.com/items/itm_4492d2daad0edc487e44932c"
published: "2026-07-08T20:03:34.000Z"
score: 68
channel: "finance"
tags: ["AI-generated code","Kenton Varda","Change descriptions","Software development practices"]
---

# Kenton Varda Bans AI-Written Change Descriptions, Calls Them 'Worse Than Useless'

## AI commentary

> This moratorium is worth noting because it comes from a hands-on infrastructure engineer, not a theoretical critic. For technical managers evaluating the ROI of AI coding assistants, it's a crucial warning: AI-generated 'fluff' can be more problematic than no information at all. Teams maintaining large, long-lived projects, in particular, should beware the hidden costs of such tools.

## At a glance

Renowned engineer Kenton Varda, quoted on Simon Willison's blog, announced a moratorium against using AI to write change descriptions (e.g., PRs, commit messages, issues/tickets). He argues that AI-generated descriptions are worse than useless because they lack context and actively mislead, reducing communication efficiency. This highlights a potential pitfall of AI-assisted development, sparking debate on how over-reliance can degrade collaboration quality.

## Key points

- Kenton Varda explicitly banned his team from using AI to write PRs, commit messages, and issue/ticket content.
- He believes AI-generated descriptions lack true understanding of project and code context, often causing misinformation.
- The moratorium is seen as a rational pushback against the hype around AI coding assistants.
- It serves as a reminder that AI outputs require human review, especially in collaboration scenarios demanding precise communication.

## Full text

I just declared a moratorium against AI-written change descriptions (e.g. PR and commit messages, also issues/tickets) from my team. AI was writing change descriptions that were worse than useless to …

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