Hear me out: what i, this is a plot to boost vegan numbers. Given latest stats huge portion of population does not use or see any use in AI - i.e. can be claimed AI vegans so in aggregation reports those could be viewed as a subset of Vegans… resulting in undeniable truth that 90%+ of population are vegan now
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
droopy4096@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
Kekzkrieger@feddit.org 8 months ago
Its neither for me, i just dont like getting wrong information and AI is giving tons of it.
Also its not intelligent it just fucking sounds so
haloduder@thelemmy.club 8 months ago
I agree. AI would be way more useful if it gave some kind of indicator of accuracy, or even just saying “I don’t know.”
Right now, AI only doesn’t have an answer when the goons who programmed it told it not to give one.
Zacryon@feddit.org 8 months ago
Whithout a clear definition of intelligence, such a discussion is somewhat pointless. The closest thing I would use to describe artificial “intelligence” is: Mimicking human thought and decision processes, without the necessity of being identical.
Secondly, regarding your first paragraph:
Humans excel at providing wrong information. Sometimes they are right. In that regard there are similarities between an LLM and a human.By the way: LLMs are part of the field of AI. But AI consists of a plethora of methods and algorithms, where LLMs are just a tiny fraction that is currently very popular.
finitebanjo@lemmy.world 8 months ago
AI isn’t the meat, jack. It’s slop.
redwattlebird@lemmings.world 8 months ago
AI vegan is not a thing and shall never be.
The correct term is Technophile. Anyone obsessed with tech would never hand it off to a third party to do when they can go through the joy of learning themselves.
Alaknar@sopuli.xyz 8 months ago
That’s a completely different reason to not use AI.
You’re a technophile - you don’t use AI because you enjoy finding information on your own and learning. Great. That ignores the vast majority of people using AI to write emails/posts (which is not looking up information nor learning anything related to tech).
The people the article is about don’t want to use AI due to environmental reasons - the amounts of water and energy it uses for every prompt is stupid high and they don’t want to contribute to that waste.
_g_be@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I’m technophobic. Fucking clankers
Goldholz@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 months ago
I see. Another one to serve the gloriouse republik!! Long live chanclor palpatine!
cy_narrator@discuss.tchncs.de 8 months ago
Thats 90% lemmy users
Electricd@lemmybefree.net 8 months ago
Less but yea, many are anti AI here
jsomae@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
We let environmentalism become an individual issue, and that was a mistake. Can we not do this for AI? It’s a society-wide problem, not something you can solve by measuring your own personal AI footprint.
ICastFist@programming.dev 8 months ago
We let environmentalism become an individual issue, and that was a mistake.
Everyone knows it’s not an individual issue, corporations are constantly buying up political shielding and support, as well as media opinions, to ensure that “the economy” remains more important than the environment and that they, the ones responsible for all the shit, don’t get regulated or properly fined and blamed.
jsomae@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
I don’t really agree that “everyone knows this” when everyone I know talks about environmentalism almost exclusively in terms of individual impact.
assassinatedbyCIA@lemmy.world 8 months ago
So normal decent human beings
sturmblast@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I hate this timeline
TimewornTraveler@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
how to belittle and minimize a very serious thing: call any protesters of it a " ___ vegan"
jsomae@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
Why are you dissing on vegans? Veganism is legit, bro.
TimewornTraveler@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
online lefty moment. I’m not dissing on them. I am simply aware of how they are perceived in society.
Sergio@lemmy.world 8 months ago
They are “journalism vegans”. They are choosing to abstain from actual journalism for clickbaiting, herd mentality, and personal lack of skill reasons.
UltraBlack@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I want to avoid it but with google making sure that search results get worse and worse I’m in a bit of a pickle. Other search engines still feel lile they’re a bit behind though
Goldholz@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 months ago
I use my boyfriends own browser. Boyfriend, please explain it:
Soooo, it’s called searXNG. It’s a metasearch engine I host locally. It searches across multiple search engines, like duck duck go and others. And then shows the results as a normal webpage. It also changes your “fingerprint” per every search, and every search/result is proxied through the server. If you wanna try it out, you can use (public instance): searx.bndkt.io But you can easily host it locally from the source or with docker.
UltraBlack@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I’m using searx, too, but google’s results still stand to be some of the most relevant.
Zacryon@feddit.org 8 months ago
Have you tried Ecosia?
UltraBlack@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Isn’t ecosia just using google’s results?
Telemachus93@slrpnk.net 8 months ago
Not OP. I’ve been using Ecosia for years and was glad they didn’t do the AI summary shit so far… But a few days ago I got an AI summary on Ecosia as well. I fear they’re also hopping on this train and in that case I’ll look for another search engine.
Malek061@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Duck duck go
Nalivai@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Unfortunately, it’s not better and also shows slop
JigglySackles@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Fish@midwest.social 8 months ago
If you’re willing to pay money then Kagi is a great alternative. They claim they don’t collect or share your data. Though, Kagi isn’t very good for local search results and probably never will be.
Inkstainthebat@pawb.social 8 months ago
You’ve probably heard this before but do consider alternatives like Startpage and Qwant. It’s not flawless but I’ve found it’s definitely better.
UltraBlack@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I’m gonna go a step further and recommend searx :)
Blackmist@feddit.uk 8 months ago
I refuse to use it because it’s shit.
We are not the same.
Electricd@lemmybefree.net 8 months ago
*because you don’t know how to use it
stoicmaverick@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Every last bit of it? What is your stance on use of AI for tasks such as data analysis of massive sets for scientific research, or procedural automation of massive operations?
petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 months ago
Yes, I am also frequently accosted by Google’s data analysis of massive sets for scientific research. I can’t tell you how many times they’ve forcefully inserted research analysis of large data sets into my search results.
Nalivai@lemmy.world 8 months ago
AI doesn’t exist, machine learning algorithms can be useful and are used with no controversy, generative bullshit is basically useless.
fishy@lemmy.today 8 months ago
Yup, these things are still garbage for >90% of all applications people are jamming them into. Breathed a sigh of relief when my company CEO said he doesn’t see us using AI for more than can center routing for at least the next several years.
Electricd@lemmybefree.net 8 months ago
Works relatively well for image editing
Else yea I would agree, sometimes it’s just shoved for nothing, but 90% seems like too much
Montreal_Metro@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
I just don’t have a use of it. I already am AI.
axEl7fB5@lemmy.cafe 8 months ago
you aren’t artificial tho lol
Honytawk@feddit.nl 8 months ago
Maybe they were artificially inseminated?
humorlessrepost@lemmy.world 8 months ago
[citation needed]
b01f4@leminal.space 8 months ago
Effectively I believe we are. During my MFA I realized we were simply copying as a form of craft. It’s all we do in arts. Any great work feels like just one continuous story retold again and again.
petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 months ago
This is deeply cynical.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Yo
RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I am a AI Freedom Fighter.
roserose56@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
I’m one too!
reksas@sopuli.xyz 8 months ago
i wonder if they came up with such term to mock those who dont want to use ai and possibly actual vegans on the side.
Jason2357@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
They use to mock us with “Luddite” but the. Technologists looked into that actual movement (rather than the caricature) and agreed, “yeah sure, like them”. That took the sting out of the pejorative, so they picked another mocked group to connect it with.
Univ3rse@lemmynsfw.com 8 months ago
Maybe we should be more like the luddites, starting with data centers.
kadaverin0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
This is the dumbest shit I’ve ever read. Refusing to submit to corpo ratfuckery isn’t a lifestyle choice. It’s common sense.
Electricd@lemmybefree.net 8 months ago
It is though
explodicle@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
Reading this thread, I wonder if the term is intended to divide a largely environmentalist opposition.
Makes “nocoiner” seem tame by comparison.
SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 8 months ago
There’s a huge push right now to salvage the AI hype bubble as people realize the tech can’t live up to the promises. They are also trying to prevent regulation.
This includes the pushes to humanize the tool, like saying it deserves rights or that there may be some kind of racism against the tool.
zarkanian@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
like saying it deserves rights or that there may be some kind of racism against the tool.
Wait, who’s saying this?!
JcbAzPx@lemmy.world 8 months ago
They’re trying to pretend it’s real AI rather than extremely complicated text prediction. Hell, the less knowledgeable among them might even believe it. LLMs are a sort of language pareidolia.
Corelli_III@midwest.social 8 months ago
propaganda like this is so fucking sad
colonizers don’t have anything to value in their culture and they don’t have a future so they want to rip on people who aren’t buying their garbage
Deflated0ne@lemmy.world 8 months ago
The only AI I’d ever want is something like a VI from Mass Effect. Runs locally and harvests absolutely zero data.
UnfortunateShort@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I wouldn’t mind a Geth or two, for jolly cooperation
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Also for destroying the occasional organics, as a little treat
Deflated0ne@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Hi. That’s me.
If at any point I’m required to use it for a job I’ll learn. Till then I can do my own googling, reading, math, etc.
I just don’t need it. And the push to put it in literally everything makes me not want it at all. Corps don’t do good things. Always seeking a rent. Always digging for a profit. And always at our expense.
Fleur_@aussie.zone 8 months ago
Guys it’s fine, you’re overreacting. I only use local instances of AI and I always ask it for consent before using it to deepfake porn of my favorite celebrities in their debut roles. You vegans are overreacting and taking it too far. Humanity has been using AI for like 6 months now and our bodies aren’t biologically ready to go back to writing our own homework. You really need to check your privilege; we can’t all afford fancy tools like GIMP to make our own art.
mariusafa@lemmy.sdf.org 8 months ago
Guess i’m vegan now
normalexit@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Abstaining from a thing does not make one a vegan. That’s not how any of this works.
lmmarsano@lemmynsfw.com 8 months ago
But it makes people come off as extremely annoying. So that’s working.
echodot@feddit.uk 8 months ago
It’s like how they put the word gate after something to say that it is a scandal involving the former word.
Somesort of political scandal involving road maintenance? Oh yes well that’s roadgate then. Even though the Watergate scandal was in fact it scandal in the watergate hotel, rather than a scandal about water.
helvetpuli@sopuli.xyz 8 months ago
Someday we’ll have Gate gate, or maybe even another scandal at the Watergate complex, so Watergate gate.
I can’t wait!
Hellahunter@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Awe so the article author has a vendetta against vegans got it.
JuxtaposedJaguar@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
I mean, abstaining from animal products makes someone a vegan, right? If you abstain from AI products then it would follow that you’re an “AI vegan”.
JcbAzPx@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Abstaining from animal products is just vegetarian. Veganism requires an extremely strict adherence to a very specific set of rules concerning animals.
normalexit@lemmy.world 8 months ago
It follows, but it is also feels like click bait.
A definition of vegan is:
A vegetarian who eats plant products only, especially one who uses no products derived from animals, as fur or leather.
There is an environmental parallel, and it made me read the article to see what they were on about – so I guess it worked.
To be clear, I am very pro environment (I live in it); I just feel like this is crossing the streams of related, but completely different movements, isn’t particularly helpful.
MTK@lemmy.world 8 months ago
The irony of environmental activists using the word “veganism” while not being vegan 😒 (being vegan is one of the most significant reduction to greenhouse emissions that is within your personal choice)
josefo@leminal.space 8 months ago
If we go this route, there is also from for AI Crossfitters
Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Count me in
NoodlePoint@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I refuse ever touching an AI-driven app or feature, having seen too much slop.
pjwestin@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I don’t use A.I. because I’ve had nothing but negative interactions with A.I. Customer service bots that fail to give adequate responses, unhelpful and incorrect search result summaries, and, “art,” that looks like shit hasn’t made me want to sign up for ChatGPT or Gemini. For most people, this isn’t a moral stance, it’s just that the product isn’t worth paying for. Stop framing people that don’t use A.I. as luddites with an ax to grind just because tech bros spent billions on a product that isn’t good yet.
Retro_unlimited@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I have local self hosted AI that runs in my solar system. I don’t use AI because it ROTS your brain. We are not the same.
aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 months ago
I don’t use ai either. But because it’s fuckin stupid. It’s not even ai. It’s a glorified sorting algorithm.
haloduder@thelemmy.club 8 months ago
What would make it ‘ai’ in your mind?
aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 months ago
Sentience
Electricd@lemmybefree.net 8 months ago
Hard copium there
mavu@discuss.tchncs.de 8 months ago
“AI” or LLMs are great for people without skill. They love them and get quite aggressive when you insult the machine.
Zacryon@feddit.org 8 months ago
It is AI.
mavu@discuss.tchncs.de 8 months ago
Not if you use “AI” as the abbreviation of “artificial intelligence”.
If you use AI as meaning “what chatGPT & co are” then it’s a trueism.