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AI Contributions

AI Contributions

This document describes how Keystone Core handles contributions created with artificial intelligence (AI) assistance.

Overview

Keystone Core welcomes contributions created with AI assistance. We believe AI tools can enhance developer productivity and code quality when used responsibly. However, we require transparency about AI involvement and human accountability for all contributions.

Copyright Status of AI-Generated Code

Legal Background

As of 2025, there is ongoing legal uncertainty regarding the copyright status of AI-generated content:

  • The US Copyright Office has stated that works created by AI without human authorship are generally not copyrightable
  • Copyright requires human creative expression; purely mechanical AI output may not qualify
  • The degree of human involvement (prompting, editing, selection) may affect copyrightability
  • International jurisdictions may have different rules

Project Position

  1. All contributions are licensed under Apache 2.0 regardless of whether they were human-authored or AI-assisted.

  2. Human contributors take responsibility for AI-assisted submissions, including reviewing, testing, and warranting the code meets project standards.

  3. No copyright is claimed on portions of code that are purely AI-generated without creative human input.

  4. AI-assisted contributions are clearly marked in git commit history.

  5. The collective work remains protected - the selection, arrangement, and human creative contributions to the project as a whole are copyrightable.

Disclosure Requirements

Commit Messages

All AI-assisted contributions MUST include disclosure in the commit message:

feat: Add user authentication module

Implement JWT-based authentication with refresh tokens.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

What Must Be Disclosed

  • Code generated by AI tools (Claude, GPT, Copilot, Gemini, etc.)
  • Documentation drafted by AI
  • Test cases generated by AI
  • Configuration files generated by AI
  • Any content where AI produced the initial draft or significant portions

Disclosure Format

Use one or both of these formats:

🤖 Generated with [Tool Name](tool-url)

Co-Authored-By: AI Name <noreply@domain.com>

Common AI attribution lines:

  • Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
  • Co-Authored-By: GitHub Copilot <noreply@github.com>
  • Co-Authored-By: GPT-4 <noreply@openai.com>

Human Responsibility

Human contributors submitting AI-assisted code certify that they have:

  1. Reviewed the AI-generated content for correctness
  2. Tested the code to verify it works as intended
  3. Understood what the code does and why
  4. Modified the output as needed to meet project standards
  5. Verified the code does not introduce security vulnerabilities
  6. Checked for license compatibility of any training data concerns

The human submitter is accountable for the contribution as if they had written it themselves.

What This Means for Users

Using Keystone Core

  • You can use Keystone Core under the Apache 2.0 license as normal
  • AI-generated portions are provided under the same license terms
  • The project as a whole functions identically regardless of how code was created

Forking or Deriving

  • You may fork and modify Keystone Core under Apache 2.0
  • AI-generated portions may be freely used without attribution beyond license requirements (though attribution is appreciated)
  • Human-authored portions retain normal copyright protections

Contributing Back

  • Follow the same disclosure requirements when contributing
  • Your contributions (AI-assisted or not) will be under Apache 2.0
  • Sign off using our DCO (see DCO.md )

Identification of AI Content

AI-assisted contributions can be identified by:

  1. Git commit messages containing:

    • 🤖 Generated with
    • Co-Authored-By: referencing AI tools

  2. Pull request labels (when applicable):

    • ai-assisted

  3. Git log search:

    git log --grep="Generated with" --grep="Co-Authored-By.*Claude" --grep="Co-Authored-By.*Copilot" --all-match

Prohibited Uses

AI tools should NOT be used to:

  • Generate code that intentionally contains vulnerabilities
  • Circumvent security controls or licensing requirements
  • Create contributions that violate our Code of Conduct
  • Generate content that infringes on others’ intellectual property
  • Submit AI output without human review (“blind” AI contributions)

Disclaimer

THIS PROJECT AND ITS AI-ASSISTED PORTIONS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. CONTRIBUTORS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE COPYRIGHTABILITY OF AI-GENERATED CONTENT. USERS ASSUME ALL RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

The project maintainers are not responsible for:

  • The copyright status of AI-generated content in any jurisdiction
  • Any claims arising from the use of AI-generated code
  • The accuracy or fitness of AI-generated contributions

Questions

If you have questions about AI contributions:

  1. Open a GitHub Discussion
  2. Ask in the relevant pull request
  3. Contact the maintainers

Changes to This Policy

This policy may be updated as the legal landscape around AI-generated content evolves. Check the git history of this file for changes.

Last updated: January 2025

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