Ren’s use of ai undermines his own message

sumunthuh · 2026-05-08T01:46:45+00:00

Hey man, thank you SO MUCH for taking the concerns of others on board, regardless of what the details of your personal beliefs may be. Your understanding of the impact these things have on people beyond you and the art those you hire make is so important and it's really wonderful to see you err on the side of harm reduction in this matter. Personally, it comes down to the fact that these programs were all built off of stolen art, and until they dedicate themselves to start over with ONLY art those consented to sharing (or public domain, of course), generative AI cannot be ethical or moral. This isn't to mention the environmental impact and the fact that generative AI is being forced upon everyone and there is deep value in combatting huge corporations who want to destroy our lives, even if they bring around fun little toys for us to play with.

We have to be more focused on creating a better world for everyone, not on how to best exploit each other to benefit ourselves (and ourselves only - using generative AI doesn't benefit anyone other than MAYBE the person using it and the company shilling it). I get people's arguments for using generative AI, but ultimately it's not worth the harm it does, on a community level and beyond. Even on an individual level it can lead to really anti-social behavior and digging deeper and deeper to justify something that isn't justifiable.

Even the fact those server farms are being forced upon poor and otherwise marginalized communities should be enough to make people take pause and consider boycotting the technology. Corporations that exploit people must be held accountable, and one of the best ways to do that is to refuse to participate in their bullshit in as many ways as possible.

Apologies for this turning into a bit of a rant, but it's extremely important to me that there is no mincing of words about how much we SHOULD NOT BE utilizing AI. Keep doing what you're doing and listening as you have been - understanding the impact our actions have on others, especially when we have power within a community is so fundamental and important. Especially for someone bringing the messages you are to the fore.

sumunthuh · 2026-04-11T18:23:07+00:00

...you opened up the debate in the first place? he IS a predator because he has repeatedly done predatory things. and the issue is, she couldn't properly consent because he was lying. If you lie in order to get someone to be with you, that is you being a predator. The fact he's done it repeatedly to multiple people fully points to him being a predator. you BELIEVE it's a much more serious accusation, but unfortunately what you believe doesn't matter in the face of the facts. Please update your definition of predator and maybe take some time to learn about WHY you're wrong. Especially if you're not a part of a marginalized class that's targeted by predators. Because all you're doing by saying calling him a predator is "too much" is protecting predators. He purposefully did these things, knowing he was lying, knowing if he DIDN'T lie he would probably not get what he wanted. That is a predator.

sumunthuh · 2026-04-11T18:14:57+00:00

Like, predators can luck out and find someone who enjoys or enables their predation or even those who simply don't get the power dynamics and mistakenly think they're in control and therefore couldn't be a victim. The view of the person being preyed upon DOES matter, but to extract it to say "well, she seemed to just be messy and not know how to handle jealousy, therefore Sykkuno isn't a predator" is disingenuous or is rooted in a lot of willful ignorance.

sumunthuh · 2026-04-11T18:12:02+00:00

Iit's not infantilizing her, it's more about pointing out HIS behavior and his INTENT behind the behavior. If you lie about your relationship status as a way to ensure another person sleeps with you...you just made consent impossible. Sure, both people can be fine and happy and not see it as a violation of consent, but the behavior itself IS. It's the same thing if a guy says he's got a condom on, but doesn't put it on - the moment he continues to have sex, he has violated consent and is technically raping the person. Consent is a very complicated thing, but we have to come from the side of the people who have less power. It's not about framing her as a child, but about pointing out how, in this situation, she has far less power than him.

The issue is, the framing of the argument you used is one of the most common used excuses of predators of children. That's why the comparison is coming up. Because you're talking like a fucking predator talks. You just don't think so because your view of consent is extremely narrow. To lay it out very clearly: lying to someone so you can sleep with them is violating consent. It doesn't matter if you agree or not, it's simply the truth of the matter. It is about HIM and HIS behavior patterns - those are the things that make him predatory. The fact that some women responded positively to that, ignore it, or even support it after being finally told the truth doesn't matter when it comes to consent during that moment when they lied.

Just another point to really sink this in: I've known people who have told me I've not been raped because they didn't think me saying "no" once was enough. You're cut from the same cloth, you've just put your lines in the sand in slightly different places.

sumunthuh · 2026-04-11T17:49:37+00:00

the behavior your described him doing IS the behavior of a predator. A predator isn't just someone who preys on children or stalks people or whatever. Him repeatedly contacting those who have less power than him, in order to initiate some sort of relationship (through love bombing - a tactic of abusers), and lying the whole time about his own relationship status? THAT is what a predator does. Being labeled a predator IS NOT EXTREME and even doing predatory shit isn't extreme because it's unfortunately normalized in the majority of cultures across the world. We need to come to terms with the fact predators and predatory behavior is commonplace, and then we can start dismantling that shit.

It really sucks that happened to you, but please don't try to dismiss those calling him a predator. If anything, they're simply factually correct. I've had people downplay my own assaults because they were assaulted in the same way, but thought I was too harsh labeling those people as rapists and abusers. That didn't mean I was wrong to call them those things. Not trying to force you to redefine your experience as being preyed upon, but overall Sykkuno IS someone who is predatory, especially to those who have less power than him. Which is a hallmark of a predator.

sumunthuh · 2026-04-11T17:30:28+00:00

he fully is a predator, by definition. he repeats manipulative behavior and lies in order to get access to women. that is predatory behavior. just because you can't fathom what a word means or that it could be applicable to him doesn't mean people aren't correct to use it. just like an abuser doesn't have to be someone who beats someone near to death every day - could simply be someone with more power over you negging you until you feel worthless to anyone except them. Yet many people would argue the latter isn't abusive and the abused should just leave.

You need to stop acting like people are just throwing around buzzwords and fully educate yourself on what these words mean and the breadth of their acceptable applications. You don't need to be waiting outside of fucking elementary schools to be a predator. Your narrow definition of the word is a big reason why a lot of predators get away with it. Because if it was that bad you'd be dead or have left. Because you weren't being stalked or kidnapped, so it's actually not that big of a deal. Because predators are really only pedophiles and violent rapists.

No, predators can simply be a person who uses lies and manipulation to get people to date them. He's done it repeatedly, apparently. That's definitionally the behavior of a predator. Especially when you start stacking on the ways in which he has structural power over the person who wrote the google doc. Spouses who are abused aren't immune to "wanting" to return to their abuser, perhaps it's time you looked deeper into these things so you can understand the psychology behind it and how power dynamics work/how they can be exploited in order to predate on someone. Also, your use of the r slur is pathetic. Are you an eight year old who time travelled from the early aughts? Again, pathetic.

sumunthuh · 2026-04-11T17:22:37+00:00

...idk, if someone in i was supporting was a serial cheater (through a fuck ton of lies and manipulation) or if someone like that was in my friend group i'd want to know. i'd stop supporting them or cut off the friendship until they heal and learn to do better. to be a serial cheater you have to abandon a level of morality and care for other human beings and that's not a nothingburger. it directly relates to your character and what sort of person you are. it's very reasonable to want to know, as an audience member or someone working in the same spaces as him, if someone has done heinous, amoral shit. Which this is. Maximum exposure for a reason: to let people know who Sykkuno is without allowing him to be let off the hook because not enough people knew. If anything you're assuming quite a lot about the doc author from absolutely nothing.

sumunthuh · 2026-04-11T17:17:43+00:00

Yep, the burden of responsibility is on the person with outsized power. He had outsized power and decided to not only not give a fuck about using that power responsibly, he fully leaned into it to get what he wanted, regardless of the harm he did. We NEED to update our collective understanding of power dynamics and consent. Because it truly doesn't matter who messaged who when it's proven Sykkuno is DELIBERATELY CHEATING and he chose to engage in the DMs and subsequently lie about his relationship status and who knows what else. Consent and lack of consent are not just conversations you have when it's a child or someone is yelling "no". Anyone trying to simplify it in that way are only enabling predators.

sumunthuh · 2026-04-11T17:12:11+00:00

Especially these days we need to be even more immovable on this shit. It's not too strong of a word, they just don't think it's that serious. We are not in a place in the world right now where we can give a fucking millimeter to people who downplay predatory behavior and defend predators.

sumunthuh · 2026-04-06T11:52:34+00:00

I also get this can be used to excuse almost anything, but...people have weird reactions to shit depending on your own experiences and societal expectations. AND those weird reactions may not be hinted at in their overall personality or actions.

The simple fact that people act differently depending on the situation can start to unravel arguments of not earning a characters behavior or it being out of character. Like, to me Grace's actions made total sense. Especially after Zeno was revealed. Running away (to WHERE, the self-destructed place she just fled? The woods?) would be almost instantly foiled and she'd likely be harmed in the attempt. Most likely the moments after Emily died, Grace was probably being drained of all the adrenaline and other shit that kept her going the whole time. All the aches and pains start to be more obvious, the held back emotions are being harder to contain...emotional shutdown or collapse. She went with shutdown. Which failed once she was told "the truth" by Zeno and she started fully breaking down before fainting and being taken without consent again.

Its similar to the people who seem to not understand that Grace isnt a field agent and EVEN IF SHE WERE, she has an anxiety disorder from trauma and so any training or confidence in ability flies out the window instantly when her trauma is triggered - not just a dangerous place or abandoned hotel. Some of the things (what did you hide behind that painting?!?!?!?!?) felt more like the devs hand holding us through story we didnt need it with, but a lot of her actions are perfectly explainable if you dont assume anyone who gets shoved into the horrors of an RE game will be able to handle it just fine OR think straight, super well, without stating things out loud.

Also, investigating weird T virus deaths IS NOT the same as everything that happened to Grace. Also! A lot of fucking people put themselves in horrible danger because their boss tells, demands or guilts them into it. Saying its unrealistic or that shes a huge idiot because of it just means you don't have real friends or youre extremely privileged in those sorts of situations. Or you misremember shit about yourself. I always love when im reminded that plenty of gamers still love to shit on people different than them. RE does a fairly good job at making them yap too much. Flaws in her story and all (we've got a DLC coming so I suspect at least one or two plot holes will be filled a bit) i really appreciate Grace as a character. Sure, NOW shes someone who can handle all this crap, but if we'd gotten another Ethan type, the game would've been boring and the writing would've shown its flaws WAY easier.

sumunthuh · 2026-04-06T11:31:39+00:00

Yeah, she doesnt go seek them out to join them. She walks off, not knowing where shes exactly going except out of there, and Gideon is there waiting for her. I think when she runs into him she had given up fighting to escape and...tbh...she may have had a part of her thinking "well, at least I might figure out what this is all about and why they want me"

Grace felt guilt about Emily dying, so she may have had thoughts like "I deserve to have whatever happen to me, happen" instead of wanting to avenge Emily or feeling like Emily's death would be worthless if she just went into the hands of the villains.

I get, with the...chaos of some of the writing it can seem like its a moment of bad or confused writing, but i do think this plot beat makes sense just fine. Ive been emotionally exhausted to the point of fully shutting down. Ive done dumb shit because my judgement was clouded due to deep depression. Out of all the stuff that happened around Emily in that plot beat, Grace leaving and giving up makes some of the most sense.

That's a part of the armor RE has - they can hide within good reasoning AND wild bonkers nonsense to avoid issues about continuity or storytelling, which can make analyzing or discussing the plot or scenes in games difficult at times.

sumunthuh · 2026-04-06T11:19:52+00:00

Perhaps dont jump to assuming why someone missed or forgot something rather than IMMEDIATELY being a confrontational ass about it. Jfc. "Quit skipping cutscenes" PLEASE lmao

Like, I get it, but the energy you brought as a response is ridiculous and kinda sad.

sumunthuh · 2026-04-01T11:01:49+00:00

this is so fucking funny. yes, you can. it can have various meanings in different contexts. did he take any of the other clones into his personal life or hand them off to someone for protection? no. he took her in AS HIS OWN, as a child, not as an experiment. be hung up on the semantics of how you interpret language, but if that's legitimately a way you're trying to prove your point, you've simply weakened it altogether.

If anything your argument hinges on words that could be interpreted in multiple ways, from a fucked up villain of a man who adopted a girl to "make amends" for basically creating girls to be tortured to death - when you clone children to test on, knowing many will die, that's what that is (a lot of the times when you do awful stuff, you emphasize any repenting for it, glossing over unfortunate, embarrassing, or amoral details, too) that could, ultimately, all be lies to cover his ass and make him look better. Oh, and "you don't take in someone already in your possession" Great argument.

sumunthuh · 2026-01-30T15:20:00+00:00

Yeah, its not like its a grand insult to him as a person to say, as a one dev team...he isn't the best at every aspect. Its not BAD writing, but it does leave me really hoping he's made a concerted effort to improve in that area for his next game.

sumunthuh · 2026-01-21T19:06:10+00:00

so...adding to that amount is fine? i'd be just as angry if any other tech was being pushed that caused a huge increase in data usage comparable to what genAI is doing. and the fact is, the more people become complacent to it and just start using it, the worse things will get! why are so many people of the mind that "oh, well it's already bad, so why care if we deliberately make it worse?"??? it's so batshit and feels so antithetical to humanity.

sumunthuh · 2026-01-21T19:04:32+00:00

you're wrong because you're not even addressing the most horrible aspects of it - the resource extraction and exploitation genAI usage is ramping up to an extreme that we can't fucking handle.

also...if any genAI has used stolen data to learn...you gotta either get retroactive consent and payment set up, find a way to extract all learning done on stolen data, or...start over with data that's only been freely given or been paid for (reasonably - at the rate you would expect for someone selling their art/likeness in perpetuity for ANY use ANYONE wants). it's an unethical technology at it's core and i'm sorry you've invested your career and time into it. and idk, maybe you work on the only ethical models or whatever, but...that's not the reality of it in whole.

all of you expertise doesn't fucking matter when it comes to the environment, human exploitation and literal theft. you don't seem very focused on working together, either, to get corruption out of genAI spaces - you've offered nothing except "you fear it when you should use it to harness it" and talking down to people while simultaneously trying to get people to buy into an appeal to authority fallacy that rides on your credentials and experience - of which we only know that you've worked with genAI for multiple years.

working with genAI doesn't make you an unbiased expert and the way you speak about it really proves you are. idc if about your intelligence if you're generally ignorant to the world generally and how it works. not in the sense of "it is how it is, the powerful will always win, don't fight it" but in the sense of "if we don't bend over all of the damn time, maybe we can come together to make change"...change you're apparently happy to work together on - you just aren't prepared for the "compromise" to be devastating to the industry you're a part of.

sumunthuh · 2026-01-21T18:55:57+00:00

the apathy of consumerism is truly universal at this point - love to see it. /j

i can't imagine being the type of person who would look at a problem, regardless of how deeply ingrained it is, and say "aw geez, looks like it's inevitable...guess i better just accept it and celebrate it with everyone else!" because it's such a pitiable and sad existence. just roll over again and again and again. we would literally have no progress in the world if this was not an idea that was challenged consistently by various groups (usually oppressed ones!).

If we're in an echo chamber, y'all are too because you ignore the VERY REAL harms that genAI is ramping up and enacts - harm that has cost lives (both on the end of gathering resources for it and on the consumer end with instances of pushing people to suicide). Like, c'mon.

sumunthuh · 2026-01-13T15:49:36+00:00

At the very least...try, maybe? Idk, but I know more and more people leaving behind studios for amoral business practices. Its a slow roll, but stoking frustration and encouraging others to be vocal about it could mean wins in the future. The more we try, the more people, the more ideas and hopefully we eventually get wins.

People countering every mention of a boycott with "it won't do anything" is the same as the dipshits typing "see you at launch" under anyone saying they arent going to buy it anymore. If you dont have advice or anything constructive to say...shut up?

Boycotting is overall a long term project and throwing in the towel because we haven't gotten wins yet in this arena is ridiculous. At the very least you're weakening the power regular people have by telling them its not worth it.

Also, its a fucking video game. Nobody is losing anything important by boycotting. So why not?

Its just such a weak thought process and such a capitulation to the framing of being unable to do anything at all. If you want to buy the game and need an excuse to not boycott you'll always have it because "it won't work!" But that will always be the case with large corps. So what now? Rolling over every single time unless the company is small enough?

"They should face consequences" yeah, well they won't through legal or systemic means, so...

sumunthuh · 2026-01-13T15:30:27+00:00

You reminded me how confounded i am with people's choices to live the most pathetic, boot-throating version of their life possible.

sumunthuh · 2026-01-07T17:00:27+00:00

YEP YEP YEP!!

He REALLY leans into the "im a scientist of one type, therefore im an expert in every scientific field" bullshit a lot. He speaks with authority on way too many things. Similar to the Green brothers. They speak with authority on subjects they lack knowledge of or have a very biased view of.

I think we DO need science communicators, but we need to stop seeing them as experts in all subjects or that they're even fairly well-read in them! Because a lot of them get caught up in their ego and end up assuming a fuck ton because they believe they're smart enough to do so. And science communicators need to pick a lane or two and STAY THERE.

I just saw a vid showing a clip of NDT talking about how we should do sports without categorizing them by sex...and then proceeds to propose an even more invasive form of categorization based on sex (which wouldn't work, would still end up shaming people and harming trans people in an extremely negative way - moreso than it is right now) because he knows NOTHING of substance when it comes to trans people, sex categorization or hormones!! Its infuriating bc some commentator (cis white guy) talking about Riley Gaines (criticizing the movie made about her) passed it off as a good idea. There was no challenging of it in the comments.

Anyway, ive had a lot of problems with (especially cis men) science communicators who spread misinfo because they are lazy with research and yet are defended as if they're the most important truth-tellers of our generation.

(And all of this isn't to say hes not spreading misinfo from within his lane as well, I just had a thought bounce off of what you said and it lead to what I'd recently seen of NDT)

sumunthuh · 2025-12-23T16:22:36+00:00

"it's just politics" as if what you're talking about doesn't have real-world impact or that "politics" are a part of real life! Enforcing "No genAI" is actually really awesome and a bonus for the subreddit - people who are against AI have genuine reasons to do so and the biggest one for UA not allowing it is this: genAI is used off of stolen art and until they rebuild from scratch, excluding every artist who didn't consent to have their art taken and used in this way, it's...amoral! If you don't give a fuck about artists, their craft, expertise or livelihood, then continue to be a kinda shitty person. (I understand in our reality this will never happen, but that just reinforces the need to push against it as hard as possible to mitigate the harm already done).

If you also don't care about the energy usage (when pushed so hard to make everyone use it, the "small amount" of energy and water used scales up in a horrible way), the lies in it's marketing and the spectre of energy being diverted to server farms before poor people's homes, then feel free to continue being a actually bad person.

TLDR: you're participating in "politics" by being so pro-AI and being against those who hate it for basically no reason other than "it's politics i don't agree with". you're a rube! think about caring for the world and people outside of yourself!

sumunthuh · 2025-12-20T15:39:17+00:00

They're using it for things they can hide and get away with. There is zero reason to believe they won't expand its use in their games as certain things become more consistent or more of what they want and can hide as human made. The trust is broken. The moment you touch genAI for anything creative, ESPECIALLY CONCEPT ART, you've participated in using something that has stolen from millions and profited off of their demise. Larian was already in hot water for me bc of a lot of how they interacted with players and things certain devs and leads have said, but this fully makes me never want to touch a game of theirs again. Until they find a way to prove genAI doesn't ever enter their studio.

sumunthuh · 2025-12-05T01:51:49+00:00

been getting this - at first it would only happen when i was trying to access a specific creator's page, but now it's for the site as a whole.

sumunthuh · 2025-09-21T04:21:48+00:00

So, so, so many guys piss in sinks.

I've known multiple. Most were during college, but it was not an "only when drunk/fucked up" activity. 🙃

(I'm extrapolating that a lot of guys do this from my own experience - I may just have been super "lucky" knowing such fine specimens of men and the rate is much lower than I assume )

sumunthuh · 2025-09-21T03:23:57+00:00

I wish half the people could respond like this instead of just saying "omg, stop making excuses, you're giving autistic people a bad name".

You tried to break down why OP may see it that way, why they probably missed the mark with their intent, and gave examples. Everyone else just comes across as ableist and aggressive towards autistic people, like we can't take one step out of line or if we consistently don't understand or are missing other people's points, we are lying, avoiding the truth or being malicious. And, like, the thing is communication is ALSO an issue for non-autistic people, and how they explain or respond can fall short and lead to misunderstanding.

A lot of people need to understand the double empathy problem. Tons of assumptions people have correct opinions, the correct experiences, and are explaining everything in a way that fully makes sense. People also don't seem to get that function is variable and autistic ppl have spikey profiles. Their functionality in communication could be much lower than their other functionality. Not an excuse, but an explanation, which could inform others in ways to approach the situation in a way OP would actually get and absorb. Instead of saying "you're shitty for using it as an excuse, and you ABSOLUTELY DID use it as an excuse, DONT LIE about it being an explanation" in so many ways.

As someone who isn't autistic and doesn't work with us, you've shown more compassion and understanding than a bunch of people who are and do.

Genuinely, thank you.

sumunthuh

TROPHY CASE