According to Roger Montti’s article on Search Engine Journal, titled “WordPress Publishes AI Guidelines To Combat AI Slop,” WordPress has released a new set of AI usage guidelines aimed at preserving quality, transparency, and trust as AI-assisted contributions become more common across the project.
WordPress Sets Clear Expectations For AI Use
Montti reports that the new guidelines are designed to encourage responsible use of AI while ensuring that WordPress’s long-standing quality standards and GPL licensing requirements remain intact. Importantly, the rules do not ban AI. Instead, they make it clear that AI is a tool, not a contributor, and that humans remain fully accountable for what they submit.
The guidelines apply broadly, covering code, documentation, images, screenshots, and educational materials, reflecting the deep embedding of AI tools in the WordPress ecosystem.
Five Core Principles
WordPress structured the guidelines around five key principles that contributors are expected to follow:
- Contributors remain fully responsible for their work, even when AI is used
- Meaningful AI assistance must be disclosed in pull requests or Trac tickets
- All contributions, including AI-assisted ones, must remain GPLv2-or-later compatible
- Non-code assets are held to the same standards as code
- Quality matters more than volume, with low-effort or unverified AI output explicitly discouraged
Montti highlights that reviewers are empowered to close or reject submissions they deem “AI slop,” lacking meaningful human oversight or insight.
Transparency And Verification
A major focus of the guidelines is transparency. Contributors are encouraged to:
- Use AI for drafting, but personally review and validate the output
- Submit small, well-defined changes that are easier to review
- Run real tests and document them
- Link to verified issues, tickets, or documentation
These expectations are meant to protect reviewers’ time and prevent large volumes of low-quality, machine-generated submissions from overwhelming the contribution process.
Key Takeaway
As Montti explains, WordPress’s new AI guidelines are less about restricting innovation and more about maintaining trust. By requiring disclosure, enforcing licensing compatibility, and prioritizing human accountability, WordPress is setting guardrails that allow AI to be used productively without eroding quality or legal integrity.