People who are against AI data center power plants and concerned about the environment and these issues should avoid using AI image generators & chatbots anymore. It’s no longer funny, it’s not cute. I don’t think anybody is impressed with AI slop anymore. It’s old hat. It’s not interesting. And if someone is showcasing it publicly, like on social media, it’s rather like being against littering and posting on social media a video of oneself dumping garbage into the local stream. It’s just not a good look.
This isn’t like trying to expect individuals to avoid using fossil fuel entirely or expecting personal recycling to solve things. This isn’t about me saying individualism will save us. This is about boycotting where it’s really really easy. Just don’t use these things for fun or where it’s not compulsory and doesn’t even make sense. And especially don’t use them to showcase how good you think they are. Don’t help the AI boosters sell their product by doing their PR for free while claiming to be against this stuff. We should boycott every product we can before we don’t have any choices anymore at all. And right now it is really very very simple to choose not to use AI image generators and chatbots, especially for things that have no practical purpose, for example, for a demonstration or design art. Just don’t do it. And no, this is not like just using a social media app that employs automated algorithms, or being forced to use a chatbot to get through to customer service with your cable company. I’m specifically talking about people saying “here’s my AI generated image” or crowing about using a chatbot for this or that.
It’s also very easy to maybe at least just not publicly showcase your AI generated whatevers and promote other people to start using it or pique their curiosity to try it out. And I say this because I realize that some people are addicted to this and are having trouble quitting chatbots and AI image generators. I get that it’s like an addiction. And it may be necessary to take people aside and pass this message. They likely do not realize they’re embarrassing themselves with cringe use of AI. And I’m probably not the one to do it gracefully, because I’m so tired and I’m a bit of an asshole at this point about it after reading so many accounts where people describe the extreme anguish of living near a data center. But it may need to be approached almost like an intervention with someone who has a problem with gambling or excessive social media use.
Listen, a few years ago I tried out some of these products. I wanted to see what they were about. I get the interest if it’s still new to someone that there’s this appeal, a novelty. And I do think FOMO is evoked with this stuff. I worry that even when people describe weird interactions or even dangerous ones, it might prompt (ugh) more people to “try it out” to see if something weird will happen for them too. I noticed right away that these image generators and chatbots are habit forming. It ramps up the desire to want to “reroll” for something better. Do you really think it’s just a big big coincidence that they seem addictive and they make it appealing like video games or gambling or social media? Do we really think it is a coincidence all these tech products are habit forming? Because there are people who’ve worked in the industry who have stated straight out it’s deliberate, and I suggest we heed their warnings.