They are choosing to abstain from using artificial intelligence for environmental, ethical and personal reasons. Maybe they have a point, writes Guardian columnist Arwa Mahdawi
This makes about as much sense as calling Linux users “Windows vegans”.
Choosing to not use AI isn’t some wacky contrarian position, it’s a tame position that can easily be justified. (Don’t want to use AI? Then don’t.) If anything, trying to assert that constantly using AI for everything would be the new normal is the wacky position.
So I’m gonna play devil’s advocate here and say that it is. Look at your teeth, humans are omnivores. Cutting out half the diet you evolved to consume is in fact a contriarian position. Not that I have any issues with vegans or vegetarians, just from an anatomical point of view we were designed to eat some meat! I do think calling people who don’t use AI “AI vegans” is absurd though, as diet has absolutely nothing to do with use of AI. Would be more accurate to say their AI fasting if we’re gonna use food related terms.
It’s natural to eat animal products, but many humans try to live by ethical standards, not just instincts and traditions. Just because the stronger caveman used to be able to just bash their neighbor’s head in and take their belongings, doesn’t make it acceptable by today’s standards.
So while I do agree with your initial assessment, considering that we have the option nowadays to have a healthy diet based on non animal products, I would also agree with the previous comment saying that it is not wacky contrarian to eat / live vegan.
Kiiiinda confused. Am I fly? Nah, I am a human. And most of us eat mixed diet. That’s normal. Baseline. So, eating only veggies is wacky. Same with eating only meat.
In terms of office work, the technology pretty much already exists to cause a change akin to the change that happened from pre-photocopier (so typing pools), only the odd phone line per office building, no fax, obviously no computers/email/internet/mobile phones era office work to the office work of today.
The energy use is unconscionable. The people currently owning the tech that runs large language models are awful, but it is possible for companies and individuals to run their own llm’s.
Anyway, the point is, would it be daft for anyone to insist on working in a typing pool in a 1950s office today? I get why people dislike ai. I am not really trying to defend it, I’m just saying that it really is a mistake for anyone to just try and ignore it.
This makes about as much sense as calling Linux users “Windows vegans”.
Choosing to not use AI isn’t some wacky contrarian position, it’s a tame position that can easily be justified. (Don’t want to use AI? Then don’t.) If anything, trying to assert that constantly using AI for everything would be the new normal is the wacky position.
Imagine thinking that veganism is “wacky”.
Not eating animals is not a wacky contrarian position either, and I’m not even vegan
So I’m gonna play devil’s advocate here and say that it is. Look at your teeth, humans are omnivores. Cutting out half the diet you evolved to consume is in fact a contriarian position. Not that I have any issues with vegans or vegetarians, just from an anatomical point of view we were designed to eat some meat! I do think calling people who don’t use AI “AI vegans” is absurd though, as diet has absolutely nothing to do with use of AI. Would be more accurate to say their AI fasting if we’re gonna use food related terms.
Theft, rape, and murder are “natural” too.
It may be natural to eat animals, but in modern society it is definitely not necessary. I eat some meat, but I respect those who don’t.
It’s natural to eat animal products, but many humans try to live by ethical standards, not just instincts and traditions. Just because the stronger caveman used to be able to just bash their neighbor’s head in and take their belongings, doesn’t make it acceptable by today’s standards. So while I do agree with your initial assessment, considering that we have the option nowadays to have a healthy diet based on non animal products, I would also agree with the previous comment saying that it is not wacky contrarian to eat / live vegan.
It is wacky/contrarian as we are still eating meat normally. LLM is stiiiill soso, but soon wacky/contrarian will also apply to not using it, sadly
People, eat shit. Billions of flies can’t be wrong…
Kiiiinda confused. Am I fly? Nah, I am a human. And most of us eat mixed diet. That’s normal. Baseline. So, eating only veggies is wacky. Same with eating only meat.
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/metaphor
In terms of office work, the technology pretty much already exists to cause a change akin to the change that happened from pre-photocopier (so typing pools), only the odd phone line per office building, no fax, obviously no computers/email/internet/mobile phones era office work to the office work of today.
The energy use is unconscionable. The people currently owning the tech that runs large language models are awful, but it is possible for companies and individuals to run their own llm’s.
Anyway, the point is, would it be daft for anyone to insist on working in a typing pool in a 1950s office today? I get why people dislike ai. I am not really trying to defend it, I’m just saying that it really is a mistake for anyone to just try and ignore it.