Cassandra is only carbon now21h ago
The thing I actually wanted to say about AI today, before the whole world jumped the shark yet again.
Show threadCassandra is only carbon now21h ago

Anyway, @zkat warned us. Talking about whether or not AI "works" was a trap, and always was. The ethical component is all that matters, and from that analysis alone, the onus is on all of us to reject and oppose AI.

Getting mired into whether or not it "works" is bad praxis in several ways: it de-emphasizes the ethics, it opens up to goalpost shifting about what it means for AI to "work," and it's easier for the boosters to Gish gallop or overwhelm with jargon.

Show threadCassandra is only carbon now21h ago
Sure enough, that's where we are now. I'm as guilty of that as anyone, to be sure. But like... all weekend, there have been so many new claims about AI "working," and every one takes a lot of effort to read critically and debunk. None of them change the ethical calculus.
Show threadNelson21h ago

@xgranade One reason many people want to avoid the ethical arguments is because many people won't actually take any action based on ethics. They may claim to have ethics, perhaps even the same ethics you do, but actually changing behavior, holding others accountable, organizing etc. simply doesn't happen.

These things only happen if other considerations come into play.

I don't know how to save our democracy/civilization/biosphere if we can't get people to act on ethics.

Show threadPhie Lux 
@skyfaller @xgranade What I don’t understand is that acting ethically when it comes to AI is one of the easiest things to do. You just…don’t.
Apr 6 at 10:29pmWeb
Show threadNelson20h ago

@sabrina @xgranade To be fair I don't think it's that easy, the tech industry is forcing workers to use it or get fired, and ordinary people encounter LLMs / generative AI in every product being pushed constantly. For example, every time I open Google Photos they want me to use genAI to make a cartoon of myself or some shit.

Avoiding becoming complicit in slop takes a large amount of effort, beginning with even recognizing something like Google search summaries as slop (one ex-friend refused).

Show threadKwaze Kwaze15h ago

@skyfaller @sabrina @xgranade

Who is looking for spiritual purity to the degree of "I've never even generated a Google search summary"?

I'm sorry I don't buy this.

I think you'd be hard pressed, even on here, to find someone that would get on the case of people unwittingly using genAI toys shoved in their face in the photos app yet stopped when the issues were explained to them.

No, the problem is people will be made aware of the problems and *continue* to use and defend the toys.

Show threadKwaze Kwaze15h ago
@skyfaller @sabrina @xgranade
And while you can be "forced to use it" by your employer (as someone who has actually experienced this) you don't actually need to fall in line and comply so readily the way many people do. There is no way to tell you're using it beyond token burn which is trivial to achieve.
Show threadKwaze Kwaze15h ago

@skyfaller @sabrina @xgranade
There are probably some dynamics here that are similar to what you described with your father but lawns are also a cultural artifact from before he was born. That's an important element you're omitting.

These are toys that got popular 3 years ago.

If someone's been made aware of the harms "Just don't use it" is a perfectly valid standard to apply.