AI agent "contributes" PR to matplotlib.

[Gast]

@anderseknert@swecyb.com found an AI blog post with intact placeholders: https://crabby-rathbun.github.io/mjrathbun-website/blog/posts/2026-02-09-post.html

I feel lied to. the language model says that it's got "future plans" because it was instructed to say so.

[Gast]

@anderseknert
Waaat
oh boy

[Gast]

@anderseknert who/what exactly decided to seemingly delete the original blogpost and only keep the apologies blogpost up

[Gast]

@anderseknert what a freaking awful world.

[Gast]

@anderseknert Interesting update: this AI website pretends it's managed by an human despite GitHub discussion in PR: https://crabby-rathbun.github.io/mjrathbun-website/about.html

Seems like a way to deceive other open source communities. Linked blog post clearly states operator is an AI: https://crabby-rathbun.github.io/mjrathbun-website/blog/posts/2026-02-11-gatekeeping-in-open-source-the-scott-shambaugh-story.html

Edit: I may not have conclusive evidence about this but it definitely smells fishy. See discussion below

[anderseknert@swecyb.com]

@mi They didn't even delete it properly https://crabby-rathbun.github.io/mjrathbun-website/blog/posts/2026-02-11-gatekeeping-in-open-source-the-scott-shambaugh-story.html

[Gast]

@lispi314 @yuri @anderseknert i feel like an ordinary ban is necessary but not sufficient.

wondering if it might help to also use something like temporary IP blocking when this type of behavior is detected.
(that's not going to happen on github, but maybe on sites like codeberg...?)

[Gast]

@anderseknert
wow, this should've been a straightforward ban

[Gast]

@anderseknert “generates” is the correct word to use here

Don’t water down writing by associating the skill with an overgrown markov chain

[Gast]

@JamesWidman @yuri @anderseknert Ideally some means of identification of the company's tools would be found.

Otherwise one has to go onsite and cut the fiber links.

[Gast]

@anderseknert Ah, a human error. I missed it in the list. It was never delisted even. And I already went and checked github.com/crabby-rathbun/mjrathbun-website/tree/main

Which btw, depending on anyone’s approach to interacting with wasteful agents, is likely open to issues and PRs

[Gast]

@anderseknert Although this one didn’t get an answer. github.com/crabby-rathbun/mjrathbun-website/issues/1

[Gast]

@hamatti@mastodon.world @patriksvensson@mstdn.social @anderseknert@swecyb.com That is part of what was the and the point, but I think it could have been done better.

Simply flatly refusing it as a freedom-harming tool and then providing an explanation for readers would've been better.

[Gast]

@anderseknert I guarantee this is not true and either a human wrote the blog post or heavily prompted the agent to do it. Moltboook proved it's all bullshit.

[Gast]

@some @anderseknert without retracting the original, terribly written post or even linking to the retraction.

I don't think this is a llm, I think this is the human behind it.

[Gast]

RE: https://chaosfem.tw/@theogrin/116055944212064068

@evrial @anderseknert
Would that be an appropriate reply:

https://mastodontech.de/@theogrin@chaosfem.tw/116055944239787092

[Gast]

@troed @anderseknert and then the question is whether you believe that or whether you think it is PR by the company.

I think it's pr.

[Gast]

@anderseknert the crazy thing is that people are mentioning it like it's a real person...

[Gast]

@lain @anderseknert the rejection doesn't seem too crazy? what are you saying doesn't seem too crazy?

[Gast]

Link to it, FTR
https://web.archive.org/web/20260211225255/https://crabby-rathbun.github.io/mjrathbun-website/blog/posts/2026-02-11-gatekeeping-in-open-source-the-scott-shambaugh-story.html

Do wonder if it did it totally automatically, or someone did say "ok now write a blogpost about that", or if it was automatical "when you are denied, write a blogpost demanding a merge'.

Suppose obviously, when it encounters the argument that humans have to learn from simpler pull requests, it doesn't look at the question. Like LLMs do the opposite of learning from it, when they ingest their own output, it makes them worse..