MicroZig bans all LLM and AI use in its community, down to fixing typos
MicroZig to Adopt Strict No LLM / No AI Policy
The Zig Embedded Group has added a strict No LLM / No AI policy to MicroZig's code of conduct, effective October 28th, 2026. It forbids LLM-generated code or prose, paraphrasing AI output, using chatbots for editing, spelling, translation, brainstorming, or bug hunting, and even discussing chatbot use. Members are welcome to post in their native language instead. Violators face swift removal.
No LLMs for editing, including fixing spelling or grammatical errors.
- mattnite
Hey, Matthew Knight here. I'll add what I had to say in the Discord announcement:
> It is entirely valid for people to want to use LLMs for their projects and in their communities. It's also valid to want to keep them free of LLMs. Unfortunately those preferences are not compatible, one approach cannot coexist with the other. A choice needs to be made for MicroZig/ZEG projects. I've developed a preference for working without LLMs, and as I'm the most active maintainer of the project, shipping projects like the SYCL Badge, I'm imposing my preference.
> I have no hard feelings for anyone that decides to make an LLM fork of microzig.
- Tiberium
"No LLMs for finding bugs." I really don't get rules such as these, plus they're not really enforceable. There's a difference between using the LLM to write the bug report and using the LLM to find the bug (if you suspect there is one) to then report after manual checking, in human words.
- syscll
I don’t understand why people get so annoyed at policies like this. Zig seems to be a niche community that really embraces the people and craft of programming as opposed to being just another language.
To me, it’s akin to running a classic car club and not wanting drivers to turn up in their 2026 GT3 RS. They appreciate the building process and the thought and effort that went into it. At least, that’s my interpretation after attending some meetups/conferences.
- pugworthy
There will probably be a time when it's impossible to determine if content came from an LLM or a human. We're currently in the, "It's been 'shopped, I can tell by the pixels" stage.
- paaloeye
The policy in question is based Zig's LLM policies, per the most active maintainer of the project, Matthew Knight — the author of Em Dash Counter
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