<div dir="auto">Hi all,<div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">I think this discussion is drifting away from the policy itself.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Whether someone drafts a message with or without a writing tool does not determine whether the points raised are valid. Every participant remains responsible for what they submit, and those submissions should be assessed on their technical and policy merits.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">At the same time, I agree that discussions are more productive when contributions are clear, concise, and responsive to the points being debated. That expectation applies equally to everyone, regardless of how they prepare their emails.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">If a particular argument is unclear or unsupported, it should be challenged on its substance. Focusing on the tool used to write it risks overlooking the actual issues under discussion.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The Policy Development Process is strongest when it welcomes participation while maintaining a high standard of evidence and technical reasoning.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Regards, </div><div dir="auto">Fundiswa Nadia Maseko</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, 20 Jul 2026, 18:16 , <<a href="mailto:rpd-request@afrinic.net">rpd-request@afrinic.net</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Send RPD mailing list submissions to<br>
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Today's Topics:<br>
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1. Re: Writing tools (Mike Burns)<br>
2. Re: RPD Digest, Vol 222, Issue 92: Request to Pause the AI<br>
Generated Posting (Mike Burns)<br>
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Message: 1<br>
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2026 12:14:42 -0400<br>
From: "Mike Burns" <<a href="mailto:mike@iptrading.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">mike@iptrading.com</a>><br>
To: "'Nonjabulo Sphilile'" <<a href="mailto:nonjabulosphilile@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">nonjabulosphilile@gmail.com</a>>,<br>
<<a href="mailto:rpd@afrinic.net" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">rpd@afrinic.net</a>><br>
Subject: Re: [rpd] Writing tools<br>
Message-ID: <06e701dd1862$df4b2b50$9de181f0$@<a href="http://iptrading.com" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">iptrading.com</a>><br>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br>
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Hi Nonjablulo,<br>
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I want to be clear that AI DDos is the same as automated flooding. AI can generate non-duplicative prompts more quickly and easily than anything else, which provide a tool for list-swamping.<br>
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What that can do is render the list unusable. <br>
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Note that I do not see that happening in any current conversations.<br>
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And as I pointed out, existing procedures can take care of list flooding, whether AI generated or not.<br>
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I thought I was clear that absent the flooding I called a DDoS, all arguments should be considered on their merits.<br>
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I personally don?t care where the argument comes from.<br>
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Regards,<br>
Mike<br>
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From: Nonjabulo Sphilile <<a href="mailto:nonjabulosphilile@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">nonjabulosphilile@gmail.com</a>> <br>
Sent: Monday, July 20, 2026 12:02 PM<br>
To: <a href="mailto:rpd@afrinic.net" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">rpd@afrinic.net</a><br>
Subject: Re: [rpd] Writing tools<br>
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Dear Mike,<br>
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The ?AI DDoS? analogy is the wrong category. Participants are not packets, and disagreement is not an attack on the process.<br>
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The list may regulate actual conduct such as automated flooding, impersonation, excessive duplication, or deliberate disruption. It should not infer abuse from writing style or from the use of a drafting tool. A person who reviews, submits, and stands behind a message remains responsible for it.<br>
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Any guideline must therefore be tool-neutral and based on measurable behaviour. Otherwise process management becomes a mechanism for filtering unfamiliar or inconvenient voices while established participants continue to define what counts as legitimate participation.<br>
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Rough consensus is not protected by narrowing the room. It is protected by identifying distinct issues, answering them on their merits, and refusing to turn procedural control into institutional mandate.<br>
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I oppose any rule that treats AI assistance itself as presumptive misconduct.<br>
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Regards,<br>
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Nonjabulo<br>
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Message: 2<br>
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2026 12:15:52 -0400<br>
From: "Mike Burns" <<a href="mailto:mike@iptrading.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">mike@iptrading.com</a>><br>
To: "'Gugu Dhlamini'" <<a href="mailto:gugudhlamini343@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">gugudhlamini343@gmail.com</a>>, <<a href="mailto:rpd@afrinic.net" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">rpd@afrinic.net</a>><br>
Subject: Re: [rpd] RPD Digest, Vol 222, Issue 92: Request to Pause the<br>
AI Generated Posting<br>
Message-ID: <06ec01dd1863$092791c0$1b76b540$@<a href="http://iptrading.com" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">iptrading.com</a>><br>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br>
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Hi Gugu,<br>
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I wonder if you actually read my post, as I completely agree with your rewording of it.<br>
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Regards,<br>
Mike<br>
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From: Gugu Dhlamini <<a href="mailto:gugudhlamini343@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">gugudhlamini343@gmail.com</a>> <br>
Sent: Monday, July 20, 2026 12:02 PM<br>
To: <a href="mailto:rpd@afrinic.net" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">rpd@afrinic.net</a><br>
Subject: Re: [rpd] RPD Digest, Vol 222, Issue 92: Request to Pause the AI Generated Posting<br>
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Dear Mike,<br>
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I support the use of AI-assisted drafting. I pay for the tool, I choose when to use it, and I remain responsible for every message I submit. The software is not participating in the PDWG. I am.<br>
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The list may address actual misconduct such as spam, impersonation, automated flooding, or excessive duplication. It should not police lawful writing tools simply because some participants dislike them.<br>
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Participation should be judged by substance and conduct, not by whether someone used modern technology to express a view. Otherwise, familiar participants turn personal preference into an unwritten permission system.<br>
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My tools are my choice. My words remain my responsibility.<br>
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Regards,<br>
Gugu<br>
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On Mon, 20 Jul 2026, 5:49 pm Taye Medoye <<a href="mailto:daniel.medoye@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">daniel.medoye@gmail.com</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:daniel.medoye@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">daniel.medoye@gmail.com</a>> > wrote:<br>
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Dear Mike,<br>
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I do hope that the usefulness of AI in assisting to generate relevant information is not being undermined here, as contributions on writing tools tend to suggest. In this regard, l want to align with the position of Mike, to the extent of his disapproval of the use of AI to swamp the list with long messages in a denial of service sort of attack.......<br>
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However, the discussion is drifting from the proposal into judgments about who is speaking and how they prepared their words.<br>
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That is a wrong test.<br>
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A participant may use translation, editing, or drafting assistance and still remain fully responsible for the position expressed. The policy question is whether mandatory hierarchical naming is necessary, proportionate, and limited to a genuine technical invariant.<br>
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Operational benefits are relevant, but they do not automatically create policy authority. Nor does support from established participants become ?community consensus? merely because those voices are familiar.<br>
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The co-chairs should separate distinct arguments, test the evidence, and avoid turning participation into mandate. The community may advise, support, warn, and object. It does not acquire ownership over dissent.<br>
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I think the use of AI generated information should be viewed in the context of how it is projected to address the issue of concern, and its veriability.<br>
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Regards,<br>
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Taye Medoye<br>
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On Mon, 20 Jul 2026 at 15:55, Mike Burns <<a href="mailto:mike@iptrading.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">mike@iptrading.com</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:mike@iptrading.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">mike@iptrading.com</a>> > wrote:<br>
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I am very happy that this list has some traffic, and separate from the AS-SET issue, the issue of AI generated posts is enormously interesting not only to this RIR policy list, but to all of them.<br>
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My position is that there are two issues contained. One is the swamping of the list with AI generated posts. The other is the concept of treating AI posts like any other post.<br>
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While I am against the use of AI to swamp the list with long messages in a Denial of Service sort of attack, I believe the principle of avoiding ad hominem arguments means that we have to treat the AI generated arguments the same as if they came directly from the pen of the poster. That is to say, ignore everything but the arguments being made, not the use of AI. It is the arguments that matter, not the speaker. <br>
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I expect this to bubble up in other RIR policy lists as time goes on, it would be good to have some kind of principled response. <br>
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Many use translators to write posts in foreign languages, so certainly some tool use is expected.<br>
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There are ways to block participants who transgress in other ways and those who post repeated AI slop to swamp the list should be so treated.<br>
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But unless there is an attempt by an individual to swamp the list, the posts should be treated as if written by the poster, that is like every other post.<br>
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I am interested to hear other perspectives on this. <br>
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Regards,<br>
Mike<br>
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From: Taye Medoye <<a href="mailto:daniel.medoye@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">daniel.medoye@gmail.com</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:daniel.medoye@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">daniel.medoye@gmail.com</a>> > <br>
Sent: Monday, July 20, 2026 8:38 AM<br>
To: <a href="mailto:rpd@afrinic.net" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">rpd@afrinic.net</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:rpd@afrinic.net" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">rpd@afrinic.net</a>> <br>
Subject: Re: [rpd] RPD Digest, Vol 222, Issue 92: Request to Pause the AI Generated Posting<br>
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In regard to the ensuing antagonistic reponses relating to the call for the pause of AI generated mails, l align with the position expressed by Noah for obvious reasons: <br>
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Firstly, the well referenced Policy Development Process (PDP) on open and unecumbered participation and expressions remains sancrosant, and a guiding principle. I think this priciple should be observed always;<br>
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Secondly, l am not aware that the Forum gives the freedom to engage in any form of criticism on the contributions made by participants. <br>
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Above all, l subscribe to the view that, while AI may be good in assisting with information as may be sought concerning any subject matter, l do not think it has the capacity to meet the prinicple of originality expected in any written literary work, whether in research or for informative diseemination purposes.<br>
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The bottom line remains that, in line with the framework for particiapting in any discussion on this Forum, mutual respect for views should be upheld.<br>
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Daniel Taye Medoye<br>
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