Updated 15-Oct-2026
In general, the arguments both for and against AI are flabby, and don't rely on actual facts. Too much hucksterism on the one hand, waiting for a payout, and too much fear-mongering and ignorance on the other. Both are a disservice for a technology which will be with us for a long time to come.
Here are a number of flabby arguments on the against side, because, well, that side needs to get its shit together. It is on the wrong side of history, and this idea you can ban the future ain't gonna work in the long term.
I'll end by making my case for how this AI crap is gonna stick around. But the main point here is that what AI is being accused of and hold responsible for is actually about other things that voters have refused to refute and repair, namely the consolidation of intellectual property rights, the corruption of local and state government, the descent of monopolies into enshittified quagmires, the destruction of labor rights, and the vast advantage granted to these billionaire fuckwads and corporations to enage in tax fraud.
In sum, AI is used as a scapegoat by the left, and an excuse by the moneyed right. Our understanding is warped, and done a disservice, by both of these approaches.
AI is not (necessarily) based on theft
- Multiple EFF arguments underline the fact that the fair use copyright clause fits AI. Not the illegitimate access to content, but what it does with that content, namely a transformation.
The real argument
- Ensure that AI has had legal access to what it is trained on. That is all. Nothing more is needed. More than that gives into the large copyright holders who are only using this in order to collect additional rents that they are not owed and do not own.
AI does not (necessarily) cause climate change
AI itself, the energy and water hungry part of it, can be fed through sustainable means. The problem is that the billionaire tech bros don't want to do sustainable and see this as a race for (even more) billions, so they bribe, lobby, and legal loophole their way to construction and subsequent disgust and destruction. You want data centers to come online? Do it right, idiots. You've created a magnificent movement of refuseniks, due to your short-sightedness and unfathomable access to capital. Enough.
That said, AI is merely the pretext, the context, the rationale. It doesn't have to be this way. And ever more compressed models can run on pitiable hardware. Indeed, 32gb shared memory integrated graphics of mini-computers (NUC-class) can dedicate 16gb of ram and have a heyday with the open weight models 9b and under. Even running two such models simultaneously.
The real argument
- Ensure that any data centers need renewable and sustainable energy and water resources. That is all. Nothing more is needed. Stopping AI or Cloud centers that meet all the mandated and sufficient requirements is counterproductive. Fight intelligently.
AI is not (merely) slop
Is human art mainly slop? That is, the majority of it? Well, yes. And human programming? Well, yes. Human behavior starts in the realm of slop and indeed may rarely leave it. ...
The real argument
- AI that violates basic rules of behavior is not acceptable. However, that doesn't mean all AI is not acceptable. Much AI is quality and necessary. That is all. Nothing more is needed. And certainly don't let the cesspool that is Google search results off the hook. There is a reason AI is being used for basic search. Basic search has been broken for years, as Google seeks ever higher rents for ever corrupted results.
AI is not (necessarily) against workers
- ...
The real argument
Workers need protections and Unions need to rule the roost once again. It isn't AI that is firing staff and cutting entry-level jobs, it is tech bros and private equity which should have been stopped long ago. AI is the excuse given, but Microsoft - as a prime example - has been doing layoffs for decades. They never figured out who was worth keeping, so they just cut indescriminately. Workers need a greater say in corporations, and then the madness will be curtailed. Or at the least, the same amount of damage to the organization, and less to the people involved.
AI is of value and is here to stay
- ...
The real argument
AI is too effective a tool, and too profitable a business. And moreso on the part of edge AI and local LLMs, value is to be had for the average human with a less-than-average computer. More than this misses the point of what AI is for and what it can do. No matter how much the uninformed left wants to believe, AI is valuable in many ways, for years and decades to come.
Open Source needs to have a say in AI
The real argument
Open source AI has a definition and a role to play. Open source enthusiasts should be embracing this, and not chastising and baning it. The real reason that less of an embrace and more of a puritanism is going on is the simple lack of understanding, the sheer ignorance, of the arguments from intelligent and capable people.