i focus a lot on ethics and technology in my studies, so AI has been a huge discussion topic in my life lately lol. i took a course where the professor's entire thesis was that AI could bring about the next Industrial Revolution and we must act now. I think AI is super fascinating and could potentially be the next frontier and the invention that might move humanity forward (the last big invention was the iPhone over a decade ago and we haven't really had any disrupting technologies since then). a lot of public facing applications of AI are basically still in their infancy and are extremely error prone. at the same time, AI does seem to be a bit of a buzz word term that gets thrown around by people don't understand it super well (example: people saying 'an AI' when talking about ChatGPT lol) and it can be frustrating to discuss (as someone who studies tech, whenever I mention my major ppl ask about AI lmao).
I agree with you that we should not be afraid of AI or its introduction into society and instead focus on its application. AI is human made and cannot function without a human (we should only be worried if AI starts to make its own decisions or develop its own language whenever I think of introducing AI into society I think of that quote that's like computers should never make management decisions because computers cannot be held accountable.
I like philosophical ramblings about whether AI can ever be sentient, if humans are playing God, etc, and witnessing the development of AI right before my eyes has made me interested in more scifi novels and movies lol.
I really like Yale professor Luciano Floridi. He deals with the ethics of information and talks a lot about AI and its applications. He has a ton of papers and talks and goes on a lot of podcasts.
Mar 24, 2024
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I’m going to try and keep this short but I took a class about the ethics of AI recently and have too many opinions about it.
I firmly believe it can be a really useful tool but a lot of people are not using it in good faith.
I think making generative AI so readily available online is a big mistake. There’s too many people trying to make a business out of AI art they didn’t make. Passing off AI work as their own. Not to mention the deep fake stuff. The huge companies trying to integrate AI into everything and not allowing consumers to opt out? Looking at you Google.
May 24, 2025
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When the smartphone revolution began about 20 years ago you knew when you were using a smartphone or not. You knew when you were sitting down at a computer or not, when you were opening up a social media app or not, etc.
I think the big difference here is that AI is everywhere and in everything, almost without user consent. No industry is safe. Education isn't safe. Childhood isn't safe. Religious communities aren't safe. Text exchanges with family members aren't safe.
For months now I've recognized the need to establish a set of personal values and safeguards around AI. These apply primarily to me and in my domains of oversight. But also they will shape who and what I engage with and consume from.
In many ways I think this will be the issue of our time. What does it mean to be a human? Is there value in creating or only in the completed product? What do we gain from the struggle of the creative process?
Also I see opportunity everywhere.
As generative AI overtakes and as we realize that we can't trust anything that comes through a screen, even, soon, the person on the other side of a Zoom video chat (it could be their AI avatar authorized to speak on their behalf), then real life and real world interactions become so much more poignant and beautiful.
Right now I lead a community writing workshop on weekly basis. IT IS REAL. No one is using AI. We write together with pens in notebooks. We read our work aloud together. This will remain a safe space.
I can see other safe spaces springing up too. For instance: we gather and paint or make art, together and in realtime. Then we walk next door and hang our art immediately in a gallery and have a show. It's real. It's human. And we can trust it.
Also I see communities forming of people who choose to opt out of the generative AI devolution. There's a lot of thoughtful writing about this out there already.
May 15, 2025
Shannon Vallor, a virtue ethicist and philosopher, has been studying the ethics of emerging technologies for nearly 20 years. In this book she challenges the simplistic tech optimist and doomer viewpoints of the future of AI technology.
She believes that these polarized media narratives act as a distraction from other pressing issues, from the powers that already control us, and from the genuine existential risks of AI. She posits that creating the illusion of AI as an all-powerful godlike force and de-emphasizing the role of human input in its proliferation/development benefits corporate interest, leaving individuals feeling disempowered and as though they are without a choice.
Vallor uses the metaphor of the physical properties of mirrors to paint a picture of artificial intelligence as a reflection of human intelligence. She demystifies AI technology, explaining its realistic capabilities and its limitations, and offers a radical path of grassroots resistance that puts us back in the driver‘s seat to reclaim our humanity and shape our future.
I linked a one-hour podcast episode where she talks about the ideas she explores in the book. I highly recommend listening at the very least if you‘re interested in hearing her perspective!
Oct 5, 2024
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read from 2021 abt modern counterculture, rejecting tech overlords, and the dark forests of the internet
"To be truly countercultural today, in a time of tech hegemony, one has to, above all, betray the platform, which may come in the form of betraying or divesting from your public online self.”
Feb 20, 2024
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well-written article analyzing cronenburg's films and contrasting them with today's sexual politics and lack of eroticism.
passage i enjoyed: In fact, we are not impermeable packages of preformed desires, importing our likes and dislikes around with us from one encounter to the next like papers in a briefcase. An erotic craving is inextricable from the ferment that foams up when oneself is sluiced into another. Not only is it impossible for us to know whether an encounter will be deflating or transformative but we cannot know what sort of metamorphosis will ensue if the sex is as jarring as we can only hope it will be.
Feb 19, 2024
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and marvel at the progress you've made. im reading my old journal entries and i was actually a mess, but i've grown so much in a year :) always love and appreciate your old self because she's still within you
Apr 2, 2024