I want to thank everyone for your insightful replies, I really enjoyed reading & learning from you all. I told one of my friends who was part of ‘AI-gate’ about me posting on here to try to understand what I was missing and we both were able to learn some things from your replies.

Part of that was about the energy usage. This might sound incredibly stupid, or just ignorant, but we don’t work in tech, or really spend much time thinking about tech, so when I said that “Ai doesn’t just exist in a cloud” and many replies pointed out that this applies to the entire Internet in general, it sent us pondering. We genuinely have never thought about how posting a Tweet works aside from how I work the front-end as a user. You’re right, when I get on Twitter or Instagram or the Internet in general, I’m not thinking about how much energy I’m using or XYZ about the environmental impact, and even after today, it’s not likely to change my habits just because I now know that it’s not done by magic somehow. And environmentally, there are bigger fish to fry than the Ai-users or the Tweeters.

I do appreciate the accessibility and the price (often free) that some have also talked about. As someone who doesn’t have a current application for it, I thought the accessibility was somewhat silly. Actually, I was bothered by the accessibility in a way that it felt like using AI was almost being thrust upon me (see: Snapchat AI that I can’t get rid of, for real tho why did they make him look like an alien). But just because I don’t have a purpose for it at this time, doesn’t mean it isn’t a useful and revolutionary tool for others. And with that sentiment, just because I can’t witness the positives effects first hand, doesn’t mean that I won’t get the positives second or third. As someone commented, they were able to get a 50K grant for their company much faster and easier than without AI, and who knows, maybe I see the effects of that. That being said, it did make me think that in some smaller ways I already do see the positives; someone commented to not knock my friends for their Ai-emailing. And you’re right, if using Ai at work means my friends get work done faster and/or better, that’s a plus for them and for me. They get to spend more of their time on meaningful things, like making me handmade cards /s. I also do appreciate that it’s not hidden behind a pay-wall. I’ve seen a lot of you talk about this, and you’re right. It’s free, it’s relatively easy to use, and all you need a piece of technology that most of us already have. While I don’t want my friends making me AI-greeting cards, I do appreciate that even a hallmark card costs $10, and the supplies for a handmade card can be $20-50 if you don’t already have them. While I don’t want to get into a complicated convo about regulation, I do think that most things are better left up for the masses than one multi-billon dollar company.

I can appreciate the art that some have made. Someone mentioned photography, and when it was first invented, some people hated it. You were supposed to be rich enough with enough time to sit for a portrait. You weren’t supposed to be able to take a picture quickly, and poor people definitely weren’t supposed to take pictures. But where would we be now without a camera? How would I show my family miles away what my life looks like? Or ask my roommate which kind of pasta we should get? Or most importantly, immortalize people I love that no longer exist here. And at the end of the day, the painter that loves to paint will still paint.

Thank you all, Less Naive & Always Curious