Post #3879851

2026-07-17 06:18 UTC

I've been doing some soul-searching on how I use "AI" this week. Despite never being an AI booster, it snuck into my workflow in various ways and proved useful. I avoided adopting a firm ethical stance on it because it was changing so fast, and it seemed like the bubble might just burst anyway and save me the decision. That is all still true, but I find I am increasingly needing a clear personal approach to it. I'm a bit nervous posting it here because it's not a policy of complete AI refusal at present - despite me thinking that the climate crisis and the tech-bro fueled rise of fascism are the most important issues our time. Anyway, criticism is welcome, especially if it helps me sharpen my approach. Also note of course that this is a personal policy, not an AI policy for any of my various projects. https://jade.hopepunk.me/posts/my-ai-policy/

Replies (3)

@catnip@adlsolarpunk.net 2026-07-17 07:43

@jadehopepunk@hachyderm.io haven’t read ur post yet, but you sharing your genuine enquiry and attempts to grapple with it ethically is much appreciated. To often folks just hide and wait, it’s in the vulnerable sharing that we can find the nuiance and together hopefully unpack better ways through especially complex things.

Open ##3879849
@scott@toot.scott.ee 2026-07-17 07:49

@jadehopepunk@hachyderm.io I think another strong policy would be "local first" or "local only". Funding AI firms through a monthly subscription is a vote for further data center expansion (which leads to most of the other bad stuff like emissions and excessive water use). Put that money into your own hardware, source your own renewables and be responsible for your own bills. The rest of your principles seem solid... I would maybe push back on the hobbies one. Integrating a small local model with Home Assistant has been a lot of fun. Our home now has some personality and it helps to soften what can be quite dry technology. How do you feel about the training side of things? Do you actively block LLM crawlers from your content?

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@cxxvii@aus.social 2026-07-17 09:17

@jadehopepunk@hachyderm.io I do like most of it, and I appreciate how it's clear you're ultimately fighting for the no-ai side, even if you don't fully avoid it yourself. There are ways of taking a "middle-ground" that are ultimately pro-ai, and that isn't what you're doing.

Open ##4307272