Linus Torvalds: AI helps with tasks outside my strengths
The Linux creator described using AI to improve a hobby project and praised vibe coding for beginners, while warning against careless use in serious work.
Linus Torvalds has admitted that he uses AI for tasks where he does not feel strong himself.
At the Open Source Summit in Prague, the creator of Linux talked about a hobby project: a guitar pedal. He wrote a working interface in C, but it looked as if it had been made in the 1980s. So Torvalds asked AI to make it more modern.
The first result was terrible, he said. He then showed the AI his code and explained what needed to be improved.
According to Torvalds, AI makes programming more enjoyable, especially when it helps with tasks outside his strengths.
He also likes vibe coding as a way for beginners to create something useful instead of giving up when comparing their projects with polished professional software.
However, he warns that developers should be more careful when using AI for serious work.
Why it matters
AnalysisTorvalds' comments show that AI can be a practical tool for developers outside their expertise, while caution remains essential for production-grade work.
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