TIL I’m a lot of thing vegan… also, not a vegan.
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 16 hours ago by Davriellelouna@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/06/meet-the-ai-vegans
Comments
tino@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
toast@retrolemmy.com 15 hours ago
Nothing wrong with being a Luddite
etherphon@piefed.world 1 hour 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 15 hours 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 15 hours 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.
sulfidedisburseangledafternoontipper@piefed.blahaj.zone 15 hours ago
Tell me you don't know who the Luddites were without telling me you don't know who the Luddites were.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
The luddites were skilled labor rioting against capital using machines to replace them with unskilled low wage labor
glibg@lemmy.ca 13 hours ago
Come on Guardian… why frame it like that? Folks using AI should be called out as strange.
JoMiran@lemmy.ml 14 hours ago
There it is. The stupidest headline I’ve read all week.
Zephorah@discuss.online 14 hours 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.
uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 hours ago
I’ve never used AI, even when wanting to give it a try. There was either a queue or a fee, or must click-wrap agree to terms and conditions for free two months and I wasn’t going to do those.
I never did an NFT either.
Deceptichum@quokk.au 13 hours ago
Terrible choice of words, veganism deserves better than that.
Enkers@sh.itjust.works 10 hours 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.
Pudutr0n@feddit.cl 15 hours ago
I only eat non-sentient AIs too.
capuccino@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
“the dark souls of” vibes
bss03@infosec.pub 9 hours ago
I’m a soulslike vegan.
ileftreddit@piefed.social 14 hours ago
Luddites
salacious_coaster@infosec.pub 13 hours ago
Corporate simp
Y’know, as long as we’re childishly name-calling
victorz@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
Well shit, I didn’t know they had a name for us. That’s cool.
bss03@infosec.pub 10 hours 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 6 hours 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.
thisbenzingring@lemmy.sdf.org 8 hours ago
today I was trying to find how to manipulate a trunk on an aruba switch and JFK the internet search results were fucking shit on a platter! I tried to reword it in ways that might give me a better result but it never happened. None of the commands the AI suggested would have worked.
I FUCKING HATE AI results in the web searching tools
interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml 7 hours ago
HEre’s a tip, paste the chapter index from the manual in it, ask "which chapter are relevant to " $question Then paste the chapter it asks, then formulate your question The AI search result though, useless because they’re contextless, it’s like a car without a steering wheel.
ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 6 hours ago
I think some AI use is clearly worth the costs (like helping with scientific research or accessibility), some clearly isn’t (like generating spam), and much falls in a gray area where reasonable people can disagree. So do I think it’s ethical to use me? In many cases, yes - but I understand why thoughtful people might conclude otherwise, and I don’t think they’re wrong to avoid AI if they’ve weighed the considerations and found the costs too high.
candyman337@lemmy.world 14 hours 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.
Bennyboybumberchums@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
I can not wait, until the time of the perpetually seeking attention moron ends. Its always something with these fucking people. If you dont wanna use AI, just dont use it. Theres no fucking gun to your head. And we dont need to know youre not using, much less, find out youve got a dumb fucking name for yourselves.
deathbird@mander.xyz 10 hours ago
“Theres no fucking gun to your head.” Bosses: 🦜🤖 🟰💹, 👨💼🔫🤓
CarrmynCarnage@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 hours ago
Not just bosses. Tech companies have leveraged a good portion of the world’s economy on AI, and are shoveling money directly into the ovens to shove it down our throats.
No one asked for any of this. Not a goddamn soul asked for AI order takers at McDonald’s. Because it’s not about choice. The choice to abstain is going to get more and more painful to make as time goes on. By design.
Ashelyn@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 hours ago
If it gets you talking about it, even in the context of telling them to shut the fuck up, it’s working :)
inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.world 14 hours 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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oakey66@lemmy.world 15 hours 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 6 hours ago
What model and UI are you using?
Gsus4@mander.xyz 10 hours ago
I’m an LLM freegan, I guess. But I’m cutting back too, the usefulness peaked.
rhythmisaprancer@piefed.social 9 hours ago
freegan
If they had come up with something original like that, it would have been better. But creating constructive neologisms takes work, I guess.
interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml 7 hours ago
Try if one of the following strikes your fancy
AIniks
NoBots
Cogclean
Algorejects
Synthephobes
piyuv@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
Now we wait for article “meet genocide vegans: people who are against Israel’s genocide against Palestinians based on ethical reasons”
Crampon@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
I selective use AI for low risk applications.
I can use it to reskin a picture to a water painting or whatever for the purpose of using it as an icon in a smart home app or similar.
i also use it to clean audio for memes with friends.
At the moment its not reliable to solve actual problems. I simply don’t use to for those purposes because it sucks.
ABetterTomorrow@sh.itjust.works 14 hours ago
People your care*
sifr@retrolemmy.com 7 hours ago
On my list of “dont’s”, inspired by Luke Smith, I do not use AI.
auraithx@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 hours ago
Ai vegans are people who only use ai generated porn.
Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 11 hours ago
Can you pick them out if crowd by their furled brows?
FauxLiving@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
Just hold up a picture, they’ll show up to tell you why they think it’s generated
DrFistington@lemmy.world 14 hours 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 10 hours 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.
unphazed@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
Thought it was gonna be about Rationalists.
Dvixen@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
I prefer Neo-Liddite. There’s a few aspects of modern tech I eschew - AI/LLM bring one of them.