i have feelings (about ai)
I initially shared this in my newsletter. If you’d like to receive reflections like this via email, click here.
This week's post is relatively short and might sound a bit preachy. I've debated deleting my words more than once, but ultimately kept coming back to the question: "What am I afraid of?"
I want you to like and be happy with me, and I suspect this newsletter may upset a few of you.
But who am I if I'm not willing to take a stand on something I believe to be incredibly important?
And so here we are.
With that disclaimer aside, let's talk AI.
AI—specifically, generative AI—has been taking up a lot of mental real estate for me lately. The more I've learned about it, the more I've come to detest its existence.
I've used generative AI enough to feel guilty about it—to experience moral injury from its use—but not enough to get onboard the AI bandwagon.
My top three (of many, many) reasons I despise generative AI are because:
it's terrible for the environment: e.g. data centers that take up natural spaces or are built in the backyards of communities lacking the resources to fight back, that generate heat and use up precious water resources, that further imperil our climate crisis, etc.
it's terrible for humanity: e.g. our neighbors in the global south, all of us who have to weather collapse and replacement and have our survival controlled by a few power-hungry men, etc.
it's terrible for our ability to intuitively navigate our world: e.g. so many stories of how we've put our trust into GPTs over our own intelligence and intuitive knowing...
For a while, I did the inner work akin to 'to each their own,' but it turns out that this inner work ended up being nothing more than my attempt to bypass the very real negative externalities imposed by others' use of generative AI.
If you use generative AI, I love you. It's not my intention to shame you, though it is my sincere prayer that you have a change of heart.
And if you don't use generative AI, a huge thank you.
I have created AI policies for both of my websites, in case you'd like to learn more about my position (note: I expect to update them regularly). You can find them linked in their respective footer menus. Here's the one for my new site: https://kristiamdahl.com/ai-agreement. And here’s the one for my other site: https://deeperintegrity.love/ai-policy.
And if you have a business or website, I'd love to know if you've published an AI policy of your own. If you have, please consider sharing it with me, as I plan to prioritize supporting businesses that have policies in place that demonstrate their commitment to not using generative AI.
I have more feelings about generative AI than what I've shared, but this topic is truly draining for me and so I'll stop here.
Circling back to you, friend...
I invite you to consider reflecting on your own use of generative AI, if you use it. The arguments frequently made in favor of its use include that:
we might as well embrace it because 'it's here to stay' (is it?)
it reduces friction in our lives, businesses, etc. (at what cost?)
it's impossible to avoid (again, is it?)
Which, if any of these arguments do you subscribe to? Are there others?
How might you shift these narratives to better support you in weaning any dependency from generative AI, should that be something you desire?
And finally, what might you do to reduce your dependency on generative AI? If you need some ideas, check out Amelia Hruby's series of Off the Grid podcast episodes on this very topic, or download my Anti-Capitalist Toolkit.
That is all.
Thank you for reading! If you’d like to learn more about me (Kristi Amdahl), La Que Sabe (She Who Knows), and my offerings, please mosey on down to my About page. Thanks!
