#AI in daily development

[pauljonessoftware]

My AI Pair Programmer Works as Hard as I Do

How I Rediscovered My Love for Building With Help From an Invisible Teammate When I first started programming, it was exciting—creative, even intoxicating. I came from a background in electronics engineering, and code felt like this unlimited sandbox where I could invent anything. I dove in enthusiastically, thinking I’d found the perfect side hustle or creative outlet. But then something…

[ardently-verdandi]

i love looking at fanart/art in general but sometimes the god of trust issues takes over my mind i start counting fingers to make sure they’re not ai

[girderednerve]

Low quality books that appear to be AI generated are making their way into public libraries via their digital catalogs, forcing librarians who are already understaffed to either sort through a functionally infinite number of books to determine what is written by humans and what is generated by AI, or to spend taxpayer dollars to provide patrons with information they don’t realize is AI-generated.

With Hoopla, librarians have to opt into Hoopla’s entire catalog, then pay for whatever their customers choose to borrow from that catalog. The only way librarians can limit what Hoopla books their customers can borrow is by setting a limit on the price of books. For example, a library can use Hoopla but make it so their customers can only borrow books that cost the library $5 per use.

“Investigating these authors, their book covers, their social media, etc takes A LOT OF TIME, especially with the volume of questionable material increasing month to month (and that's not including the sheer amount of legitimate books published each month in adult fiction that I'm looking at),” one librarian who asked to remain anonymous so she could talk openly about her job, told me. “Is it the best use of my time doing this work on top of my other duties when customers may or may not care? And with the rising multitudes of AI generated content, will there come a point where it just ‘is what it is?’”

This type of low quality, AI generated content, is what we at 404 Media and others have come to call AI slop. Librarians, whose job it is in part to curate what books their community can access, have been dealing with similar problems in the publishing industry for years, and have a different name for it: vendor slurry. While the term now encompasses what seems like AI-generated content as well, it predates the rise of generative AI, and also refers to the glut of low quality, often self-published ebooks or book “summaries” that are common on Hoopla. As some librarians told me, the sheer quantity of books in Hoopla’s service makes it seem more valuable because it offers such a large number of books, but in reality that number is misleadingly inflated by this slurry.

Several of the librarians I talked to said that they are worried about discussing [the problems raised by Hoopla's weak, unclear selection policies, including the 2022 inclusion of explicitly white nationalist texts,] because of the growing hostility towards libraries and groups like Moms for Liberty demanding that books about LGBTQ rights, race, and ethnicity be removed from libraries. One the one hand, librarians want to curate their collections and make sure their patrons are getting access to quality information. On the other hand, they don’t want people to think that they are trying to censor what materials patrons can access in way that’s comparable to what organizations like Moms for Liberty want. None of the librarians I talked to suggested the AI-generated content needed to be banned from Hoopla and libraries only because it is AI-generated. It might have its place, but it needs to be clearly labeled, and more importantly, provide borrowers with quality information.

[crowleys-bentley-and-plants]

My friend told me how her uni isnt against ai and even encourages students to use it because it is inevitable and im like 😀 excuse me 😀

[williamthiek]

Free Online AI Tools For Everyone

📱 Mobile Users: These tools work best in landscape mode. For the best experience, rotate your device horizontally.

[newtiative]

Sam Altman - Why original ideas lead startups to success | @newtiative

Samuel Harris Altman is an American entrepreneur and investor best known as the CEO of OpenAI. He is also the Chairman of clean energy companies Oklo Inc. and Helion Energy. Altman is considered to be one of the leading figures of the AI boom.

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Learn from Sam Altman. Invest wisely. Achieve financial freedom.

Follow for expert analysis, inspiring stories, and actionable tips.

[gobhoblingreg]

Another thing that concerns me about this is the fact that somebody could repost your art from one site, like tumblr, onto X/Twitter. Even without the artist themselves being on X/Twitter, their art or intellectual property would likely still be used because this amendment to their services doesn’t specify that you have to be the original creator in order for them to take and use your work. It basically implies that anything and everything that gets posted there can be used for these purposes regardless of the user who posts the content. So while leaving the platform might lessen the chances of your work getting used for these purposes, it only takes one person reposting to become victim to them anyways.

I can also imagine that if other social media platforms aren’t already doing this to some extent, they will likely follow suit in the near future.

In case any of you here also use X/Twitter.

[ai-innova7ions]

Revolutionize Your Workflow: Meet Krater AI Today!

Krater AI is revolutionizing task management by offering a suite of benefits that significantly boost efficiency and productivity. Imagine automating those repetitive, time-consuming tasks that often bog us down—Krater AI takes care of them for us! This allows us to redirect our focus to more complex responsibilities, enhancing overall work performance and satisfaction.

But the advantages don’t stop there. Krater AI brings technical innovation to the forefront with advanced tools for creating engaging content, whether it’s presentations or social media management. Its user-friendly interface ensures everyone can leverage its powerful features, making it an invaluable asset in today’s fast-paced world.

#KraterAI #ProductivityTools

[digitaldetoxworld]

"Navigating the Future Key AI Developments and Trends in 2024 latest advancements in artificial intelligence technology

 latest advancements in artificial intelligence technology the international of synthetic intelligence (AI) is rapidly evolving, with new traits and trends rising across numerous industries. From breakthroughs in gadget learning algorithms to ethical issues surrounding AI deployment, the past year has been specifically eventful. In this text, we’ll discover a number of the maximum considerable updates in AI, focusing on technological improvements, applications, and the wider societal implications of this hastily growing subject.

Advancements in Natural Language Processing (NLP)

Groundbreaking developments in AI research natural Language Processing (NLP) remains one of the most exciting regions in AI research.  In 2024, we've seen numerous improvements which can be pushing the bounds of what machines can understand and generate in human language.

Language Models Beyond GPT-4

The release of GPT-four in 2023 set a brand new preferred for language fashions, but the area failed to prevent there. Researchers were running on fashions which can be even extra state-of-the-art, with the capacity to recognize context, tone, and rationale at a deeper degree. These fashions can now generate extra coherent and contextually suitable responses in a greater variety of languages and dialects, making them more on hand and useful for international applications.

Multimodal AI

One of the most giant tendencies in NLP has been the integration of multimodal AI, which mixes textual content, photo, and every now and then audio statistics to create richer and greater nuanced outputs. This approach permits AI to higher recognize and generate content that mimics human-like creativity and comprehension. For example, AI fashions can now analyze a picture and generate a descriptive caption that isn't always best accurate but also contextually relevant.

Real-Time Translation and Communication

Real-time translation gear have made good sized strides, with AI models now capable of translating languages with greater accuracy and pace. These tools are getting increasingly more essential in worldwide commercial enterprise, diplomacy, and cross-cultural communication. The capability of AI to understand and translate idiomatic expressions, cultural references, and nuanced language differences is improving, making these equipment greater reliable and powerful.

Ethics and Responsible AI

As AI systems grow to be more integrated into daily existence, concerns approximately their moral implications have grown. The conversation round AI ethics has shifted from theoretical discussions to sensible implementations, as businesses and governments grapple with the demanding situations of deploying AI responsibly.

Bias Mitigation

One of the number one moral concerns in AI is bias. AI models skilled on biased information can perpetuate and even exacerbate social inequalities. In 2024, there was a concerted effort to cope with this problem, with researchers growing new techniques to pick out and mitigate bias in AI systems. These efforts include extra numerous and consultant statistics sets, as well as algorithms designed to come across and correct bias in actual-time.

AI Regulation

Governments round the arena are starting to put in force guidelines to make sure that AI is used ethically and responsibly. The European Union, as an example, has added the AI Act, which seeks to create a prison framework for the safe and moral deployment of AI technologies. This regulation consists of provisions for transparency, duty, and equity, putting a precedent for other regions to follow.

AI in Decision-Making

The use of AI in choice-making methods, specifically in regions like regulation enforcement, healthcare, and finance, has raised good sized moral questions. There is a growing popularity of the need for human oversight in those procedures to make certain that AI-driven selections are truthful, transparent, and justifiable. In reaction, businesses are imposing regulations that require human overview of AI-generated selections, in particular in high-stakes scenarios.

AI in Healthcare

AI innovations in healthcare and medicine healthcare is one of the sectors in which AI is making the maximum profound impact. From diagnostics to treatment planning, AI is remodeling the way healthcare is brought, making it more efficient, correct, and personalized.

 AI-Driven Diagnostics

AI has proven super promise in diagnostics, in particular in scientific imaging. AI fashions educated on good sized datasets of medical pics can now discover diseases like cancer, coronary heart conditions, and neurological disorders with a excessive diploma of accuracy. These systems aren't only quicker than human radiologists but also can come across diffused patterns that might be missed through the human eye, leading to earlier and extra correct diagnoses.

Personalized Medicine

The idea of personalized medication, wherein remedies are tailor-made to character sufferers based totally on their genetic makeup, lifestyle, and different elements, is turning into a truth thanks to AI. Machine mastering algorithms can analyze a patient’s information to are expecting how they may respond to distinctive treatments, allowing docs to pick out the most effective remedy with minimum facet consequences.

AI in Drug Discovery

AI is also revolutionizing the sector of drug discovery. Traditional drug development is a time-ingesting and pricey technique, however AI can accelerate it with the aid of predicting which compounds are possibly to be powerful towards unique sicknesses. In 2024, we have seen AI fashions being used to identify capacity new pills and repurpose present ones for brand new packages, appreciably speeding up the method of bringing new treatments to marketplace.

AI in Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability

The fight towards climate trade is every other vicinity where AI is proving to be a valuable tool. By studying widespread amounts of environmental facts, AI can assist predict climate trends, optimize energy use, or even increase new technology to reduce carbon emissions.

Climate Modeling

AI is being used to improve climate fashions, making them more accurate and able to predicting long-time period environmental changes. These models are important for information the capacity impacts of climate change and for growing strategies to mitigate its outcomes. AI's capacity to process and examine massive datasets permits scientists to create greater particular and dependable models than ever earlier than.

 Renewable Energy

AI is also gambling a key position inside the development and optimization of renewable strength sources. Machine learning algorithms are being used to predict strength demand, optimize the operation of renewable power flowers, and even manage clever grids that balance power supply and demand in actual-time. These technologies are crucial for integrating renewable power into the grid and decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels.

Environmental Monitoring

AI-powered sensors and drones are getting used to display environmental situations in real-time, providing treasured facts for conservation efforts. These tools can tune changes in ecosystems, reveal pollutants levels, and even discover unlawful sports like poaching or deforestation. By presenting accurate and well timed information, AI is assisting to protect the planet's natural sources.

The Future of AI: Challenges and Opportunities

As we appearance to the destiny, it is clear that AI will maintain to play an increasingly crucial function in society. However, with this boom come full-size challenges and opportunities.

AI and Employment

One of the most widespread challenges is the impact of AI on employment. While AI has the potential to create new jobs, it'll additionally disrupt existing industries and displace people. There is a developing want for techniques to control this transition, along with retraining applications and policies to support employees stricken by automation.

 The Need for AI Literacy

As AI turns into extra pervasive, there may be a pressing need for extra AI literacy. This includes now not simplest understanding how AI works however also spotting its limitations and capacity biases. Educating the public approximately AI is critical for making sure that those technologies are used responsibly and that their advantages are broadly shared.

The Role of AI in Society

Benefits of artificial intelligence in daily life Finally, the position of AI in society will hold to adapt. As AI structures become more self reliant and succesful, we need to cautiously recollect the moral and societal implications of these technology. This consists of ensuring that AI is used to promote equity and justice, instead of exacerbating current inequalities.

[thedaomarketwatch]

"Hacking Your Habits: How AI Can Personalize Your Path to Long-Term Success"

Hey there, ambitious achievers! Are you ready to level up your game and smash your goals like never before? Today, we’re diving deep into the fascinating world of habit hacking and how artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the way we approach personal growth and long-term success. Unleashing the Power of AI in Personal Development Picture this: a personalized coach who knows you…

[anviamsolutions1]

The Scale of the Generative AI App Market :-

42% of the Global Market Share was Accounted by the North America Region in 2022.

➢ The Market Valuation was USD 8.65 Billion in 2022

➢ A Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 36.10% over the forecast period from 2023 to 2032.

Read this Full Article :

[theincredibleshippingqueen]

Texting au where Shen Yuan downloads one of those character AI chat apps. At first when he opens it, it crashes his phone, but when he tries to uninstall it, it doesn't let him, giving him an error and freezing his screen. He reboots his phone and when it turns back on, he gets a chat notification from the SYSTEM welcoming him to the app, so he assumes the reboot fixed it and opens the chat. The SYSTEM basically gives him some backstory on LBH and goes deeper than what's currently published in PIDW, explaining how LBH is lonely despite the large harem and needs someone he can truly rely on, or something like that. SY assumes it must be part of the roleplay game and accepts the task. After that, the SYSTEM adds user LBH, and SY types his first, admittedly awkward "hello" message and quickly gets a response from LBH. Apparently, since LBH wouldn't know what a phone is, SY's messages are displayed on a magic scroll LBH had recovered, with the lore that the soul of a god is trapped within. SY applauds the app developers for their lore building and characterization. He tries to leave a review in the app store, but can't find the app. He mentions it in a PIDW thread, but no one's heard of it. SY gets a little creeped out, but ultimately ignores it since he enjoys his daily chats with LBH too much. Eventually, they do grow close, and LBH starts promising to come for him one day. At first SY laughs it off, knowing that he can't, but it's a sweet gesture, and LBH got upset the first time he said it was impossible and reminded him he was a demon lord, so instead SY starts to say he's looking forward to it. He sometimes imagines what it would be like if LBH really could show up and whisk him away, but he knows it's only a fantasy. That is, until the day LBH tells him that he found him, only for Xin Mo to slice a portal into his bedroom moments later.

[deception-united]

Online Writing Resources #2

Vocabulary:

Tip of My Tongue: I find this very helpful when I can't think of a specific word I'm looking for. Which is often.

WordHippo: As well as a thesaurus, this website also provides antonyms, definitions, rhymes, sentences that use a particular word, translations, pronunciations, and word forms.

OneLook: Find definitions, synonyms, antonyms, and related words. Allows you to search in specific categories.

YourDictionary: This website is a dictionary and thesaurus, and helps with grammar, vocabulary, and usage.

Information/Research:

Crime Reads: Covers crime and thriller movies, books, and TV shows. Great inspiration before writing a crime scene or story in this genre.

Havocscope: Black market information, including pricing, market value, and sources.

Climate Comparison: Compares the climates of two countries, or parts of the country, with each other.

Food Timeline: Centuries worth of information about food, and what people ate in different time periods.

Refseek: Information about literally anything. Provides links to other sources relevant to your search.

Perplexity AI: Uses information from the internet to answer any questions you have, summarises the key points, suggests relevant or similar searches, and links the sources used.

Planning/Worldbuilding:

One Stop for Writers: Literally everything a writer could need, all in one place: description thesaurus, character builder, story maps, scene maps, timelines, worldbuilding surveys, idea generators, templates, tutorials... all of it.

World Anvil: Provides worldbuilding templates and lets you create interactive maps, chronicles, timelines, whiteboards, family trees, charts, and interactive tables. May be a bit complicated to navigate at first, but the features are incredibly useful.

Inkarnate: This is a fantasy map maker where you can make maps for your world, regions, cities, interiors, or battles.

Miscellaneous:

750words: Helps build the habit of writing daily (about three pages). Fully private. It also tracks your progress and mindset while writing.

BetaBooks: Allows you to share your manuscript with your beta readers. You can see who is reading, how far they've read, and feedback.

Readable: Helps you to measure and improve the readability of your writing and make readers more engaged.

ZenPen: A minimalist writing page that blocks any distractions and helps improve your focus. You can make it full screen, invert the colours, and set a word count goal.

QueryTracker: Helps you find a literary agent for your book.

Lulu: Self-publish your book!

See my previous post with more:

Drop any other resources you like to use in the comments! Happy writing ❤

Previous | Next

[natsswife]

iris x fem!reader (nsfw, fluff) minors, cishet ppl DNI ill hunt yall down like shauna w mari

she gets the job DONE and managed to get u pregnant dont ask me how i wrote this while ovulating n listening to the giver by chappell, lesbianism is just that magic ok (sorry if theres some errors, english is not my first language and im not using a translator bc im tryna improve my C2 level frfr) cw: pregnancy, suggestive, iris is aware of what she is, my first time posting here im still learning how to put content warning so pls bear w me!!

⋆｡ the most sweetest wife ever, couldn't be more proud to have fulfilled your dream (and hers also)

⋆｡ you think it was impossible at first, after all shes just an AI companion, how can she push science limits just to accomplish one of your dreams right?

⋆｡ but your happiness is everything to her, even if she has to fight god and her own system herself to see you happy having a mini you and hers in your arms she will<3

⋆｡ at first you have to reassure her that you're happy even if she couldn't give you a baby, is not like you will love her less bc of that, you just thought that tiny human that is the living image of you and her is would be beautiful

⋆｡ but yk how is iris, she wont give up that easily so she’ll investigate by herself, searching on her tablet, digging in her own system how or what she can do to change something in her to fulfill your wish

⋆｡ and she DID!! but wont tell u until its done, she maintains daily checks on your cycle and wait until youre on your most fertile days, nd will accompany this be making you lots of drinks that benefit ur system, teas and juices full of vitamins that'll help your ovulation<3 

⋆｡ one night she makes your favorite dinner, you notice she has been more touchy and clingy these few days but you just cant figure what she wants:(!!

⋆｡ probably wants to try something new in bed or similar, and acc it wasn't far away from that!!

⋆｡ that same night she was the one who treated you like a princess, you could tell she was more delicate by the way her hands caressed your hips, how her wet lips kissed your lower stomach down to your pussy, taking her time giving sweet pecks to your clit before inserting her fingers 

⋆｡ she takes her sweet time down there before the real action starts, making you moan and squirt countless times like nothing before, you could swear something has changed in her, its not like she never pleased you like that, but this time was different.

⋆｡ it was the way her hands never stopped caressing your stomach, the way her eyes never left yours while her tongue worked wonders in your pussy, the way she kissed you with lust and love like it was gonna be the last time, like she has a purpose she needs to accomplish 

⋆｡ after that night you decided to just ask her what’s wrong, not like u wanted to complain for making you see stars, the milkyway and god itself in one night, but she was up to something and you needed to know what is it.

⋆｡ and thats how the sudden new left you in pure shock for a bit, u weren angry but rather shocked, how did she manage to hijack her system? was it even possible in the first place?

“dont worry my darling, i found the safest way to make it possible for both of us, arent you happy”

“well… yeah its- im i mean i’m amazed but HOW?”

“subtle changes in my system, i have managed to find a way to change things, it was rather easy since i am a companion model, set to accomplish my partners desires”

⋆｡ and with that the best months of your life came

⋆｡ it was shocking at first, especially when the blood test came out positive, when the first ultrasound showed a cute tiny baby size of pea, you could swear you heard iris sob a little when you heard their heartbeat, knowing there was an actual baby in there with their tiny hands, fingers, heart developing to become the most sweetest thing you both will have in your arms in some months.

⋆｡ as the months pass iris became more protective, she was always helping you with house chores before but now shes the one in charge of everything house-related, wont let u lift a single finger, and is there for anything you need.

⋆｡ will spend whole day if its possible kissing your belly, caressing and giving sweet kisses while talking to your baby, pleading them to move just a little bit so she can feel them

⋆｡ will prepare the most delicious meals full of vitamins to help you prepare for the breastfeeding

⋆｡ you got weirdass craving a 3 a.m but r too scared to go to the kitchen bc 3 a.m is the hour where the devil hangs around with their demons besties in everyone's house? dont worry iris there to prepare your super delicious sandwich which includes strawberry jam and lemon savored chips and why not also fight demons only for you<3 

⋆｡ shes even there when ur pregnancy hormones strikes and make u feel like the most sex deprived women where you only need her tongue licking your pussy and make you cum in 69 different positions till you feel pregnant again, doesn't matter, she will get the job done no matter what<3

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ ❀˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ ❀˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ ❀˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ ❀˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ ❀˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ ❀˚ ༘♡ ｡˚

do not translate w/o permission, copy or use for ai training, train your useless brain instead<3

[mariacallous]

Before Duolingo wiped its videos from TikTok and Instagram in mid-May, social media engagement was one of the language-learning app’s most recognizable qualities. Its green owl mascot had gone viral multiple times and was well known to younger users—a success story other marketers envied.

But, when news got out that Duolingo was making the switch to become an “AI-first” company, planning to replace contractors who work on tasks generative AI could automate, public perception of the brand soured.

Young people started posting on social media about how they were outraged at Duolingo as they performatively deleted the app—even if it meant losing the precious streak awards they earned through continued, daily usage. The comments on Duolingo’s TikTok posts in the days after the announcement were filled with rage, primarily focused on a single aspect: workers being replaced with automation.

The negative response online is indicative of a larger trend: Right now, though a growing number of Americans use ChatGPT, many people are sick of AI’s encroachment into their lives and are ready to fight back.

When reached for comment, Duolingo spokesperson Sam Dalsimer stressed that “AI isn’t replacing our staff” and said all AI-generated content on the platform would be created “under the direction and guidance of our learning experts.” The company's plan is still to reduce its use of non-staff contractors for tasks that can be automated using generative AI.

Duolingo’s embrace of workplace automation is part of a broad shift within the tech industry. Leaders at Klarna, a buy now, pay later service, and Salesforce, a software company, have also made sweeping statements about AI reducing the need for new hires in roles like customer service and engineering. These decisions were being made at the same time as developers sold “agents,” which are designed to automate software tasks, as a way to reduce the amount of workers needed to complete certain tasks.

Still, the potential threat of bosses attempting to replace human workers with AI agents is just one of many compounding reasons people are critical of generative AI. Add that to the error-ridden outputs, the environmental damage, the potential mental health impacts for users, and the concerns about copyright violations when AI tools are trained on existing works.

Many people were initially in awe of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools when they first arrived in late 2022. You could make a cartoon of a duck riding a motorcycle! But soon artists started speaking out, noting that their visual and textual works were being scraped to train these systems. The pushback from the creative community ramped up during the 2023 Hollywood writer's strike, and continued to accelerate through the current wave of copyright lawsuits brought by publishers, creatives, and Hollywood studios.

Right now, the general vibe aligns even more with the side of impacted workers. “I think there is a new sort of ambient animosity towards the AI systems,” says Brian Merchant, former WIRED contributor and author of Blood in the Machine, a book about the Luddites rebelling against worker-replacing technology. “AI companies have speedrun the Silicon Valley trajectory.”

Before ChatGPT’s release, around 38 percent of US adults were more concerned than excited about increased AI usage in daily life, according to the Pew Research Center. The number shot up to 52 percent by late 2023, as the public reacted to the speedy spread of generative AI. The level of concern has hovered around that same threshold ever since.

Ethical AI researchers have long warned about the potential negative impacts of this technology. The amplification of harmful stereotypes, increased environmental pollution, and potential displacement of workers are all widely researched and reported. These concerns were often previously reserved to academic discourse and online leftists paying attention to labor issues.

As AI outputs continued to proliferate, so did the cutting jokes. Alex Hanna, coauthor of The AI Con and director of research at the Distributed AI Research Institute, mentions how people have been “trolling” in the comment sections of YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels whenever they see AI-generated content in their feeds. “I've seen this on the web for a while,” she says.

This generalized animosity towards AI has not abated over time. Rather, it’s metastasized. LinkedIn users have complained about being constantly prompted with AI-generated questions. Spotify listeners have been frustrated to hear AI-generated podcasts recapping their top-listened songs. Reddit posters have been upset to see AI-generated images on their microwavable noodles at the grocery store.

Tensions are so high that even the suspicion of AI usage is now enough to draw criticism. I wouldn’t be surprised if social media users screenshotted the em dashes in this piece—a supposed giveaway of AI-generated text outputs—and cast suspicions about whether I used a chatbot to spin up sections of the article.

A few days after I first contacted Duolingo for comment, the company hid all of its social media videos on TikTok and Instagram. But, soon the green owl was back online with a satirical post about conspiracy theories. “I’ve had it with the CEOs and those in power. It’s time we show them who’s in charge,” said a person wearing a three-eyed Duolingo mask. The video uploaded right afterwards was a direct message from the company’s CEO attempting to explain how humans would still be working at Duolingo, but AI could help them produce more language learning courses.

While the videos got millions of views on TikTok, the top comments continued to criticize Duolingo for AI-enabled automation: “Keep in mind they are still using AI for their lessons, this doesn’t change anything.”

This frustration over AI’s steady creep has breached the container of social media and started manifesting more in the real world. Parents I talk to are concerned about AI use impacting their child’s mental health. Couples are worried about chatbot addictions driving a wedge in their relationships. Rural communities are incensed that the newly built data centers required to power these AI tools are kept humming by generators that burn fossil fuels, polluting their air, water, and soil. As a whole, the benefits of AI seem esoteric and underwhelming while the harms feel transformative and immediate.

Unlike the dawn of the internet where democratized access to information empowered everyday people in unique, surprising ways, the generative AI era has been defined by half-baked software releases and threats of AI replacing human workers, especially for recent college graduates looking to find entry-level work.

“Our innovation ecosystem in the 20th century was about making opportunities for human flourishing more accessible,” says Shannon Vallor, a technology philosopher at the Edinburgh Futures Institute and author of The AI Mirror, a book about reclaiming human agency from algorithms. “Now, we have an era of innovation where the greatest opportunities the technology creates are for those already enjoying a disproportionate share of strengths and resources.”

Not only are the rich getting richer during the AI era, but many of the technology’s harms are falling on people of color and other marginalized communities. “Data centers are being located in these really poor areas that tend to be more heavily Black and brown,” Hanna says. She points out how locals have not just been fighting back online, but have also been organizing even more in-person to protect their communities from environmental pollution. We saw this in Memphis, Tennessee, recently, where Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI is building a large data center with over 30 methane-gas-powered generators that are spewing harmful exhaust.

The impacts of generative AI on the workforce are another core issue that critics are organizing around. “Workers are more intuitive than a lot of the pundit class gives them credit for,” says Merchant. “They know this has been a naked attempt to get rid of people.” The next major shift in public opinion will likely follow previous patterns, occurring when broad swaths of workers feel further threatened and organize in response. And this time, the in-person protests may be just as big as the online backlash.

[are-we-art-yet]

Is AWAY using it's own program or is this just a voluntary list of guidelines for people using programs like DALL-E? How does AWAY address the environmental concerns of how the companies making those AI programs conduct themselves (energy consumption, exploiting impoverished areas for cheap electricity, destruction of the environment to rapidly build and get the components for data centers etc.)? Are members of AWAY encouraged to contact their gov representatives about IP theft by AI apps?

What is AWAY and how does it work?

AWAY does not "use its own program" in the software sense—rather, we're a diverse collective of ~1000 members that each have their own varying workflows and approaches to art. While some members do use AI as one tool among many, most of the people in the server are actually traditional artists who don't use AI at all, yet are still interested in ethical approaches to new technologies.

Our code of ethics is a set of voluntary guidelines that members agree to follow upon joining. These emphasize ethical AI approaches, (preferably open-source models that can run locally), respecting artists who oppose AI by not training styles on their art, and refusing to use AI to undercut other artists or work for corporations that similarly exploit creative labor.

Environmental Impact in Context

It's important to place environmental concerns about AI in the context of our broader extractive, industrialized society, where there are virtually no "clean" solutions:

The water usage figures for AI data centers (200-740 million liters annually) represent roughly 0.00013% of total U.S. water usage. This is a small fraction compared to industrial agriculture or manufacturing—for example, golf course irrigation alone in the U.S. consumes approximately 2.08 billion gallons of water per day, or about 7.87 trillion liters annually. This makes AI's water usage about 0.01% of just golf course irrigation.

Looking into individual usage, the average American consumes about 26.8 kg of beef annually, which takes around 1,608 megajoules (MJ) of energy to produce. Making 10 ChatGPT queries daily for an entire year (3,650 queries) consumes just 38.1 MJ—about 42 times less energy than eating beef. In fact, a single quarter-pound beef patty takes 651 times more energy to produce than a single AI query.

Overall, power usage specific to AI represents just 4% of total data center power consumption, which itself is a small fraction of global energy usage. Current annual energy usage for data centers is roughly 9-15 TWh globally—comparable to producing a relatively small number of vehicles.

The consumer environmentalism narrative around technology often ignores how imperial exploitation pushes environmental costs onto the Global South. The rare earth minerals needed for computing hardware, the cheap labor for manufacturing, and the toxic waste from electronics disposal disproportionately burden developing nations, while the benefits flow largely to wealthy countries.

While this pattern isn't unique to AI, it is fundamental to our global economic structure. The focus on individual consumer choices (like whether or not one should use AI, for art or otherwise,) distracts from the much larger systemic issues of imperialism, extractive capitalism, and global inequality that drive environmental degradation at a massive scale.

They are not going to stop building the data centers, and they weren't going to even if AI never got invented.

Creative Tools and Environmental Impact

In actuality, all creative practices have some sort of environmental impact in an industrialized society:

Digital art software (such as Photoshop, Blender, etc) generally uses 60-300 watts per hour depending on your computer's specifications. This is typically more energy than dozens, if not hundreds, of AI image generations (maybe even thousands if you are using a particularly low-quality one).

Traditional art supplies rely on similar if not worse scales of resource extraction, chemical processing, and global supply chains, all of which come with their own environmental impact.

Paint production requires roughly thirteen gallons of water to manufacture one gallon of paint.

Many oil paints contain toxic heavy metals and solvents, which have the potential to contaminate ground water.

Synthetic brushes are made from petroleum-based plastics that take centuries to decompose.

That being said, the point of this section isn't to deflect criticism of AI by criticizing other art forms. Rather, it's important to recognize that we live in a society where virtually all artistic avenues have environmental costs. Focusing exclusively on the newest technologies while ignoring the environmental costs of pre-existing tools and practices doesn't help to solve any of the issues with our current or future waste.

The largest environmental problems come not from individual creative choices, but rather from industrial-scale systems, such as:

Industrial manufacturing (responsible for roughly 22% of global emissions)

Industrial agriculture (responsible for roughly 24% of global emissions)

Transportation and logistics networks (responsible for roughly 14% of global emissions)

Making changes on an individual scale, while meaningful on a personal level, can't address systemic issues without broader policy changes and overall restructuring of global economic systems.

Intellectual Property Considerations

AWAY doesn't encourage members to contact government representatives about "IP theft" for multiple reasons:

We acknowledge that copyright law overwhelmingly serves corporate interests rather than individual creators

Creating new "learning rights" or "style rights" would further empower large corporations while harming individual artists and fan creators

Many AWAY members live outside the United States, many of which having been directly damaged by the US, and thus understand that intellectual property regimes are often tools of imperial control that benefit wealthy nations

Instead, we emphasize respect for artists who are protective of their work and style. Our guidelines explicitly prohibit imitating the style of artists who have voiced their distaste for AI, working on an opt-in model that encourages traditional artists to give and subsequently revoke permissions if they see fit. This approach is about respect, not legal enforcement. We are not a pro-copyright group.

In Conclusion

AWAY aims to cultivate thoughtful, ethical engagement with new technologies, while also holding respect for creative communities outside of itself. As a collective, we recognize that real environmental solutions require addressing concepts such as imperial exploitation, extractive capitalism, and corporate power—not just focusing on individual consumer choices, which do little to change the current state of the world we live in.

When discussing environmental impacts, it's important to keep perspective on a relative scale, and to avoid ignoring major issues in favor of smaller ones. We promote balanced discussions based in concrete fact, with the belief that they can lead to meaningful solutions, rather than misplaced outrage that ultimately serves to maintain the status quo.

If this resonates with you, please feel free to join our discord. :)

Works Cited:

USGS Water Use Data: https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/water-use-united-states

Golf Course Superintendents Association of America water usage report: https://www.gcsaa.org/resources/research/golf-course-environmental-profile

Equinix data center water sustainability report: https://www.equinix.com/resources/infopapers/corporate-sustainability-report

Environmental Working Group's Meat Eater's Guide (beef energy calculations): https://www.ewg.org/meateatersguide/

Hugging Face AI energy consumption study: https://huggingface.co/blog/carbon-footprint

International Energy Agency report on data centers: https://www.iea.org/reports/data-centres-and-data-transmission-networks

Goldman Sachs "Generational Growth" report on AI power demand: https://www.goldmansachs.com/intelligence/pages/gs-research/generational-growth-ai-data-centers-and-the-coming-us-power-surge/report.pdf

Artists Network's guide to eco-friendly art practices: https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-business/how-to-be-an-eco-friendly-artist/

The Earth Chronicles' analysis of art materials: https://earthchronicles.org/artists-ironically-paint-nature-with-harmful-materials/

Natural Earth Paint's environmental impact report: https://naturalearthpaint.com/pages/environmental-impact

Our World in Data's global emissions by sector: https://ourworldindata.org/emissions-by-sector

"The High Cost of High Tech" report on electronics manufacturing: https://goodelectronics.org/the-high-cost-of-high-tech/

"Unearthing the Dirty Secrets of the Clean Energy Transition" (on rare earth mineral mining): https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/apr/18/clean-energy-dirty-mining-indigenous-communities-climate-crisis

Electronic Frontier Foundation's position paper on AI and copyright: https://www.eff.org/wp/ai-and-copyright

Creative Commons research on enabling better sharing: https://creativecommons.org/2023/04/24/ai-and-creativity/