The LLMs Yearn for the Spines
a day ago
- LLMs increasingly use the word 'spine' in code project PRs, with a 20x increase in 2026 compared to 2025.
- The spike in 'spine' usage is not explained by overall GitHub growth, as overall PRs only increased 1.5x in the same period.
- The word 'spine' is not specific to one LLM; it appears across models like Claude and Cursor, with potential contributions from GPT 5.5 and Opus 4.8.
- Other LLM-favored words include 'gates' (1 in 300 PRs in titles), 'lane', 'proofs', 'truth', and 'seam'.
- 'Ladder' is a false positive in PR bodies due to automated boto3 upgrades, but looking at titles only removes this artifact.
- The author developed a tool to analyze PR data and shared it as a gist, inviting feedback on methodology.
- The analysis suggests LLMs have stylistic preferences for certain words, potentially useful for identifying AI-generated code.
- Formal verification and proofs are also trending topics in PRs, reflecting AI's influence.
- The author notes limitations, such as not filtering code samples by date and relying on PR titles as a proxy.