Post #3489798

2026-06-28 22:56 UTC

All the shame on here. If you use AI, you're bad, if you use Amazon, you're bad. If you buy this, you're supporting genocide. It's not fair and it puts the burden on the individual user, making him or her feel bad about him/herself for not doing enough, while they worry that so what if they make their lives exponentially harder if no-one else does? what will they achieve? None of this is to say that any of the things people would like to see boycotted aren't problematic, they are. (thread)

Replies (5)

@JustinMac84@mastodon.social 2026-06-28 22:59

These companies and people that do evil with the money we give them must be brought to heel, should not be patronised. So what do we do? Promote, suggest, encourage the use of ethical alternatives. Encouragement works so much better than shame. By shaming one another, we fragment the resistance we should all be trying to build.

Open ##3489796
@stevo399@dragonscave.space 2026-06-30 13:19

@JustinMac84@mastodon.social There's also this. Is my $20 Claude subscription generating Anthropic boatloads of revenue? Is the Amazon order I placed last week the thing those managing Amazon look at and go oh thank God, he saved us? No. It's pretty well known that, for example, Claude subscriptions are not economically sustainable in the long term. I'm dragging them down if anything. Amazon doesn't make most of its money from orders like mine. I usually dismiss people for the "Don't use this it's bad you're wrong for doing it" takes. Rarely do they ever offer a better alternative. Meanwhile your employer wants you to use AI. Everyone from kids to grandparents orders from Amazon. If I quit either one of those today, nobody's gonna care or notice. Finally, and this is my favorite. I doubt the majority of folks who criticize are using custom built computers assembled from components built by small businesses using only green energy to power their operations. I doubt that all the electricity in most of said individuals' houses is all solar or hydro. I'm sure most of them also use air conditioning. They either commute or order delivery that is driven to them in gas powered vehicles. So I guess I'd think twice about telling off a random individual on the internet for ruining the planet while my post and... lifestyle, are powered by fossil fuels and natural gas. That is not to dismiss the genuine warnings against these things. There is a way to tell people about the disadvantages of the things they use every day. Shaming them is not it, though. I can't take that shit seriously.

Open ##3496975
@RustyRing@mastodon.scot 2026-06-28 23:02

@JustinMac84@mastodon.social A dangerously large number of people don't understand the difference between principle and justification. In principle, smart people are highly suspicious of AI. This does not equal justification for hurting individuals who are interested in it, or believe it has positive applications. Some cultures have a greater problem than others with this seeming (though false) contradiction. Those with a missionary "we're number 1" founding myth are the worst.

Open ##3526902
@mcourcel@allovertheplace.ca 2026-06-28 23:36

@JustinMac84@mastodon.social Then i guess I'm really bad. lolol.

Open ##3526904
@LeonianUniverse@leonianplace.masto.host 2026-06-28 23:45

@JustinMac84@mastodon.social The people who shame me for using AI just make me want to use it more just to spite them.

Open ##3526908