Well shit, I didn’t know they had a name for us. That’s cool.
Meet the AI vegans: They are choosing to abstain from using artificial intelligence for environmental, ethical and personal reasons. Maybe they have a point
Submitted 8 months ago by Davriellelouna@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/06/meet-the-ai-vegans
Comments
victorz@lemmy.world 8 months ago
bss03@infosec.pub 8 months ago
I can’t say I’m a (normal) vegan, but I’m definitely an AI vegan. I was turned off by the ethical considerations, and the few “bites” I have tried leave a bad taste in my mouth. I avoid using it because much of the training data was (and is) stolen, the power costs are far too high compared to the utility, and it’s basically worthless to me, having a screwed up response to nearly every prompt I tried.
victorz@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Exactly the same as me.
Love me a good steak, never even tried AI.
I’ve stood by while my colleagues have used it. I ask them a question they might know, just to check before I start spending time reading documentation. They’ll go “just ask Bing!” (Company endorsed AI.)
They’ll keep prompting and prompting and discussing the results, meanwhile I just go directly to the docs and find the information right there written on the screen.
I won’t subject myself to the dumbification. I don’t even use copilot to auto-complete as much as a for loop. I know how it’s written, damnit.
Toribor@corndog.social 8 months ago
People just going about their business living their lives as they have for many years…
Silicon Valley: Hey fuck you. Also I came up with a dumb nickname for you.
BearGun@ttrpg.network 8 months ago
Stupid-ass title.
gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
Stupid ass-title
Kolanaki@pawb.social 8 months ago
“Have you ever been called an AI vegan?”
“No… Shit no! That sounds like something that’d get your ass kicked!”
glibg@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
Come on Guardian… why frame it like that? Folks using AI should be called out as strange.
Deceptichum@quokk.au 8 months ago
Terrible choice of words, veganism deserves better than that.
Enkers@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
It’s honestly not even the worst way I’ve even seen it used.
I used to watch some League of Legends (I know, I know) streams from time to time, and there’s a meta where your mid laner, who is supposed to be a strong carry, gives up all their farm to the roaming jungler roll so they become the super-carry.
In any case this somehow got termed to be the “vegan mid” strategy. Ugh.
capuccino@lemmy.world 8 months ago
“the dark souls of” vibes
bss03@infosec.pub 8 months ago
I’m a soulslike vegan.
ABetterTomorrow@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
People your care*
candyman337@lemmy.world 8 months ago
How about we don’t call that being an AI vegan and just call it a model objection. That’s fucking ridiculous, that’s a term designed to make not using AI for that reason look bad and preachy.
Zephorah@discuss.online 8 months ago
What a terrible choice of words. They’re immediately assigning political placement and party to the idea of avoiding AI use instead of appealing to all of humanity on this topic.
Plus, it’s a silly metaphor.
zarkanian@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
Which is the vegan party?
piyuv@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Now we wait for article “meet genocide vegans: people who are against Israel’s genocide against Palestinians based on ethical reasons”
inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.world 8 months ago
#HA!
I feel like I should be annoyed at the headline, but honestly it’s clever. Veganism isn’t just a diet, but an ethical framework on minimizing harm so this scans on all three aspects
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I support artists who had their work stolen as part of dataset, it’s largely the same reason I don’t eat animals, it’s all about consent. Being harmed without consent is always wrong.
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Likewise the environmental footprint of meat and AI are massive and unnecessary. The carbon footprint between meat and plant protein is massive, just like the difference between building more data centers and supporting existing artists.
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AI is bad for your mental health, we don’t really have complete research on what exactly AI does to our brains but I’ve seen enough people thinking they “unlocked sentience”, became “digital gods” and started AI “relationships” to steer clear for my own protection. Not dissimilar to the studies that show a plant based diet is better for your heart and immune system. I’d still be eating plants even if it were bad for my health, I care more about the ethical side, but existing research very much shows it as a net positive.
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JoMiran@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
There it is. The stupidest headline I’ve read all week.
ileftreddit@piefed.social 8 months ago
Luddites
salacious_coaster@infosec.pub 8 months ago
Corporate simp
Y’know, as long as we’re childishly name-calling
DrFistington@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Stupid title, but in all honesty, now would be the time to create a new religion where there are restrictions on hyper modern things like AI, robotics, etc.
peoplebeproblems@midwest.social 8 months ago
We must not create a machine to counterfeit human thinking. That could be the most important phrase in the entire thing.
Almost like there might already be a text or novels out there that warn on the dangers of mankind’s hubris.
Pudutr0n@feddit.cl 8 months ago
I only eat non-sentient AIs too.
oakey66@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I installed it locally on my computer to help me with resolving some coding issues if I’m stuck, write cover letters for jobs, and help me organize ppt decks. No information is shared, I’m only using local computing resources, and I’m not propping up a failing business model.
ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 8 months ago
What model and UI are you using?
oakey66@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Qwen 2.5 coder. Running on LLM studio.
ordnance_qf_17_pounder@reddthat.com 8 months ago
I’m choosing to abstain because it’s shit. The ethical things are just a bonus. It produces inaccurate information and bland soulless images.
AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
It doesn’t produce information, it produces text.
toiletobserver@lemmy.world 8 months ago
And here i am not using it because I’m old and cranky.
joe_archer@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I just don’t use it because it’s shit and doesn’t do anything I need any better than I can do myself in the same time.
homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 8 months ago
It’s quite common for me to be annoyed, angry, or upset at a headline writer. Then there’s the feeling I got reading “Meet the AI vegans.”
Whole new level.
CosmoNova@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Seems to me you‘re a BS vegan.
expr@programming.dev 8 months ago
Yeah, pretty disappointing to see from the Guardian.
echolalia@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
I refuse to believe this title is anything other than engagement-bait, personally.
doctortofu@piefed.social 8 months ago
That's because the author seems to be a journalism vegan, writing vegan and self-awareness vegan.
Pudutr0n@feddit.cl 8 months ago
You’d be surprised how much more serene your headspace can become if you stop expecting anything beyond stupidity, incompetence and negligence as the default human behavior.
humble_boatsman@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
Its so wacky out there. When I read something like this I’m sure its The Onion. And its not. Then I read a headline about US politics and its totally believable , alas its The Onion.
toast@retrolemmy.com 8 months ago
Nothing wrong with being a Luddite
etherphon@piefed.world 8 months ago
When the technology really gets beyond human comprehension and people are just guessing and throwing shit at the wall (or billions and billions of dollars), I think it's a sensible position to be a luddite.
givesomefucks@lemmy.world 8 months ago
It was always about worker’s rights anyways:
Malcolm L. Thomas argued in his 1970 history The Luddites that machine-breaking was one of the very few tactics that workers could use to increase pressure on employers, undermine lower-paid competing workers, and create solidarity among workers. “These attacks on machines did not imply any necessary hostility to machinery as such; machinery was just a conveniently exposed target against which an attack could be made.”[10] Historian Eric Hobsbawm has called their machine wrecking “collective bargaining by riot”, which had been a tactic used in Britain since the Restoration because manufactories were scattered throughout the country, and that made it impractical to hold large-scale strikes.[13][14] An agricultural variant of Luddism occurred during the widespread Swing Riots of 1830 in southern and eastern England, centring on breaking threshing machines.[15]
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite
It was about making sure that as mechanization resulted in a lower need for labor, that workers compensation remained steady, and they worked less hours.
People hating luddites is just the result of centuries old propaganda from the wealthy
gdog05@lemmy.world 8 months ago
There literally is. It’s a mentality that prevents vaccine adoption rates and such. That said, being slow to adopt a technology like Boomers to the Internet is okay. Not adopting a technology because it has no inherent value and is being foisted on us by the ruling class is solid bro behavior.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 8 months ago
The luddites were skilled labor rioting against capital using machines to replace them with unskilled low wage labor
sulfidedisburseangledafternoontipper@piefed.blahaj.zone 8 months ago
Tell me you don't know who the Luddites were without telling me you don't know who the Luddites were.
guillem@aussie.zone 8 months ago
- Teetotalers: alcohol vegans.
- Straight edgers: drug vegans.
- Recycling: waste vegans.
- Solar power: power vegans.
The possibilities are infinite if you are a netaphor vegan.
MisterFrog@aussie.zone 8 months ago
Recycling: waste vegans.
The Germans are probably upset with this comparison
What for a nonsense. Do these other countries not sort their waste or what? Do they not know about efficiency? Next thing you’re going to tell me they don’t sort their white, green and brown glass separately.
anomnom@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
netaphor vegan
Found an autocorrect vegan!
guillem@aussie.zone 8 months ago
In my most upvoted comment. I’m hating that typo so much.
hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
- Cyclists: transport vegans
- Hippies: war vegans
- Vegans: food vegans
- Lemmy users: social media vegans
ApollosArrow@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
It’s like taking the last syllable of the name of the hotel and tacking it onto every scandal, because you didn’t understand that it’s part of the name of a hotel, and not some sort of indicator of scandal.
guillem@aussie.zone 8 months ago
The worst was the Col scandal.
(Sorry. So sorry)
surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Incels: sexual vegans
sqw@lemmy.sdf.org 8 months ago
hypna@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I keep trying to eat meat but it just won’t cooperate!
TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 8 months ago
You’re hereby invited to /c/vegan, as you appear to be a Northern Hemisphere vegan.
Korne127@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I mean “Straight edgers” is on the same level already
sorghum@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
Amish: techno vegans
Sans_Seraph@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I interpreted that as techno, as in the genre, for too long.
Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 8 months ago
- Working class: retirement vegan
- American: healthcare vegan
- German: humour vegan
My god, it’s unstoppable
caseyweederman@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
I love your profile image. I should reread Rice Boy.
sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
On this blessed day, we are all truly vegans.
zildjiandrummer1@lemmy.world 8 months ago
- Republican: democracy vegan, justice vegan, decency vegan, consent vegan
Auth@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Carnivores: vegetable vegans.
devfuuu@lemmy.world [bot] 8 months ago
This works so well specially for those people that refuse to touch anything “not cooked” in their plate or that is green.
bubblybubbles@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
And jus lik that we come full circle 😂
guillem@aussie.zone 8 months ago
Brilliant lol
Brett@feddit.org 8 months ago
“AI vegans”
ffs, just publish an article with a single clownemoji for the same effect.
givesomefucks@lemmy.world 8 months ago
The big corporations desperately want AI to be popular because they’ve thrown literally insane amounts of money at it and still don’t know how to monetize it.
There’s going to be a huge push to make it seem like everyone loves it and it’s weird not to use it constantly
It’s going to go horribly and come off like that “fellow kids” meme, exactly lol me this headline
randomblock1@lemmy.world 8 months ago
A good example were those Apple AI ads. So cringe. Google’s ads aren’t much better but at least Gemini works.
criss_cross@lemmy.world 8 months ago
MBA dweebs running VC firms wanna desperately replace people with AI for short term profits.
salacious_coaster@infosec.pub 8 months ago
I’m already seeing a surge of AI simp trolls on Lemmy in the last few days.
zildjiandrummer1@lemmy.world 8 months ago
AI in this form has been used for like 15 years, to generate trillions of dollars worth of value. I think you’re just talking specifically about ChatGPT and consumer-facing LLMs.
Canconda@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
still don’t know how to monetize it.
They do know how to monetize it. API access generated $1Billion in 2023. There’s also huge R&D potential in fields like genetic research and medicine.
Profitability is another question though. Likely we’re waiting for advances in cold fusion or late stage renewable development for energy costs to go down enough.
unphazed@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Thought it was gonna be about Rationalists.