This is what Ubuntu's AI plan looks like
AI will come to Ubuntu. However, not as hype, but as a tool to help people.
Unlike Windows or macOS, AI is not yet a big topic for Linux. At least users are not asked flooded with AI tools galore. But Linux distributions such as Ubuntu will also integrate AI - albeit with less excitement than the large corporations.
Indirect and direct AI functions for Ubuntu
Jon Seager, head of software development at Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, has probably been asked many times whether his Linux distribution will integrate AI or not. He gives the answer in detail in an article in the Ubuntu forum. He sets the framework for AI in Ubuntu and only mentions a few specific functions, but has some ideas about what is really useful for users in the end. AI is not an end in itself, it is about finding out where it can really help.
From the perspective of Linux users, it is important that AI will find its way into Ubuntu in two ways over the next few years: Seager divides into indirect and direct AI functions.
Indirect AI functions improve what the operating system already does. As an example, he mentions improvements to speech or text recognition. For Seager, these are not really AI tools, but important basic functions that dramatically improve the large language models (LLM) of AIs.
Direct AI tools are presented as new functions and users have to activate them themselves. Seager is thinking primarily of «agentic» tools that can create text or code, fix problems in the system or automate tasks. He envisages making it easier for admins to find the cause of problems on the devices they manage or to tell their computer to fix the problem with the Wi-Fi connection at home.
AI not an end in itself
Seager also mentions some of the challenges that AI brings with it under Linux. It starts with the fact that the LLMs under Ubuntu should not be resource-hungry, as the distribution should run on many devices. In addition, the LLMs must be able to be integrated into the Linux licence model and generally fit in with the values behind the idea of open source software.
At Canonical, he sees AI as an aid for humans and not as a replacement for them. In the company, they want to increase AI expertise, whereby he doesn't pay attention to what proportion of code is created with LLMs or how many tokens someone uses. And yet AI tools will be an important part of software development.
AI is not going to take software engineering jobs at Canonical, but other software engineers who are highly competent with AI tools certainly could.
Jon Seager goes on to explain that it is nevertheless important to understand AI tools and work with them. You shouldn't blindly trust what the machines output. You have to understand where AI is effective and where it is useless.
As a primary school pupil, I used to sit in a friend's living room with many of my classmates to play the Super NES. Now I get my hands on the latest technology and test it for you. In recent years at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, now at Digitec and Galaxus.
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