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Linus Torvalds said he enjoys using artificial intelligence for programming, while urging caution when applying it to important work. The Linux creator shared his views at Open Source Summit Europe in a discussion with Dirk Hohndel, his friend and head of Ericsson Software Technology.

Torvalds said he had changed his mind about AI programming. “I used to think it was just not very good -- but now I'm at the point where I actually really like using AI,” he said. He added: “I think that you need to be very careful using AI when you're doing something real and important.”

His enthusiasm comes in part from using AI on a personal guitar pedal project. Torvalds had written a user interface in C for a microcontroller and its small screen, but wanted the design to look more contemporary. He said: “This is just stupid. It looks like something from the '80s; I wanted it to look like something from this century. But I don't do Java. I do kernels.”

Torvalds said he turned to AI for tasks outside his strengths after seeing online demonstrations in which users gave the tools prompts. The initial result was poor, he recalled, and he told the system he had already built the interface in C and that it worked but looked ugly. The episode illustrates how he uses AI to help with areas where he lacks expertise.

“To be fair,” Torvalds said, “I don't do a lot of kernel programming. I'm a maintainer. The Linux kernel is a project where other people do the real work, and I act as the collection point.” He said he still greatly enjoys programming and considers AI useful when treated appropriately: “I think AI is a wonderful tool if you use it correctly and treat it as a tool, and I find it makes programming much more enjoyable.”

Torvalds began programming around 1981, when computers and the programs people compared with their own work were simpler, he said. Software engineering has since advanced to a point where it can be hard for people to see value in their own small efforts beside polished professional programs.

He defended “vibe coding,” saying it can help people find enjoyment in programming and make their work feel relevant. “It allows you, as a new programmer, to do things that you would otherwise have a really hard time with,” he said. He also described AI as a “gateway drug” for programming, recalling that his guitar pedal project gave him a reason to try it.

Torvalds acknowledged that AI tools can help identify security vulnerabilities and improve the Linux kernel. Their use also brings maintainers questionable bug reports and shallow fixes, however. He described some submissions as “mindless band-aid kind of patches.”

His preference for gradual work extends to the project’s development. Torvalds said Linux’s success rests on steady, incremental changes rather than sweeping revisions. “I'm a big believer in the whole incremental small changes that, over time, turn into big features,” he said, adding that the aim remains “incremental improvement and steady progress all the time.”