Post #1412113

2026-04-03 01:36 UTC

@zkat Genuine Q if you have the spoons for it: how do you navigate feelings about genAI vs other also ethically concerning technologies (like cars, perhaps)? I personally feel like I have a sort of status quo bias re: things that already existed and were problematic when I came into the world, but see more recent developments as more avoidable or exceptional, even tho maybe they’re not actually that different.

Replies (6)

@teknomagic@todon.eu 2026-04-03 09:59

@b_cavello @zkat for me it's easy: AI is, as a lot of people puts it, "a solution in search of a problem". It has no real practical use and because of that it was completely avoidable.

Open ##1412114
@OmegaPolice@hachyderm.io 2026-04-03 11:05

@b_cavello @zkat Difference is how easy it is to say "no". GenAI is, as of yet, not structurally baked into our society. We can just choose not to do that, and bear the FOMO.

Open ##1412117
@Tattie@eldritch.cafe 2026-04-03 13:01

@b_cavello this kinda reflects the other responses, but new technology or old, I expect folks to be trying to find solutions, while understanding that change takes time. I switched to an electric car, and try to take buses and trains more often. Others might have a bit more difficulty with infrastructure in their area, but are still doing what they reasonably can. For AI, the obvious solution is "don't start using it at all", no matter how difficult the military-industrial complex is trying to make that for us. @zkat

Open ##1412118
@PeterGray@mastodon.green 2026-04-03 15:20

@b_cavello @zkat What's your definition of AI? If I record an unfamiliar bird call in Birdnet and click 'Analyze' I understand that machine learning enables the app to suggest the identity of the bird. Is that AI?

Open ##1412127
@GuerillaOntologist@social.coop 2026-04-03 15:28

@b_cavello @zkat I use my car for the things that I need a car to accomplish - driving people to appointments, picking up groceries, hauling tools to a job site, etc. I also use GenAI for the things I need GenAI to accomplish -- absolutely nothing. My approach to the two technologies is the same, which is why I begrudgingly use one and avoid the other one all together.

Open ##1412132
@KarlHeinzHasliP@climatejustice.social 2026-04-03 16:12

@b_cavello @zkat Burning fossil fuels for energy is a far, far, far worse tech than genAI could possibly ever be. Tbh. if it wasn't for the burning fossil fuel parts, genAI is just some computer shit that one could easily ignore.

Open ##1412133