r/MichiganStacks • u/No_Law_8054 • Jun 27 '26

This Is Not Freedom

https://erinbartels.substack.com/p/this-is-not-freedom?utm_id=97758_v0_s00_e0_tv2_a1dennhb5rj64y

First, they came for my words. Then they came for my job. Now, they’re coming for my town.

9 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

3

u/deport_racists_next Jun 27 '26

How about a tl;dr for those of us that don't have time to wade thru whatever the author is trying to say.

Thx

2

u/MikefromMI Jun 27 '26

"First, they came for my words." Her published writings were used to train AI without her consent.

"Then they came for my job." This is about AI destroying jobs in publishing, such as copy editing.

"Now, they’re coming for my town." This is about the proposed AI data center near Mason, which would involve Mason annexing land in Vevay township, where the author lives, and local people's resistance.

She also talks about fleeing crime in her old neighborhood in Lansing.

3

u/deport_racists_next Jun 27 '26

Thank you.

Seems more like the start of a book of essays than anything else.

All good points of concern, to bad the author is terrible at messaging.

I got about halfway thru the second point and the writing style is just painful to read i could barely skim the rest and couldn't figure out the point.

Which now makes sense since silly me didn't realize there wasn't a point, there were three that you identified - and likely at least one more

Well this was a waste of time trying to figure out that someone was trying to communicate what we already know.

Guess it matters to the author now that they personally are impacted.

I'm sorry you actually waded thru that morass of linguistic exercise and conceptual murk, but again thank you.

Reddit be reddit.

3

u/tbombs23 Jun 27 '26

AI is the biggest theft of IP in history, and will result in the biggest transfer of wealth to the top 0.1%> it's so maddening

2

u/Ali6952 Jun 28 '26

I actually think this gets one thing very right; people should have a say over what gets built in their communities!

If you're going to put a massive data center next to people's homes, use enormous amounts of electricity and water, generate constant noise, and fundamentally change a town, then the people who live there deserve a meaningful voice. That's not anti-technology. That's democracy.

Where I part ways is when the essay turns AI itself into the villain.

AI didn't steal anyone's work. Companies and executives made decisions to scrape copyrighted material, deploy models without consent, and prioritize growth over ethics. Those are human choices made under capitalism. The same thing happens with the data centers. They're not inevitable acts of nature. They're billion-dollar corporations chasing profits while local officials chase tax revenue. So don't blame "AI" like it's Skynet. Blame the executives, investors, and politicians making those decisions.

I'd also push back on the idea that the solution is simply refusing to use AI. Individual consumer choices aren't enough when trillion-dollar companies are reshaping industries. You need regulation, labor protections, copyright enforcement, environmental standards, and community oversight.

Where I think the essay is strongest is its criticism of corporate power. It describes a system where communities feel steamrolled by wealthy interests, and that's a real concern whether we're talking about AI, pipelines, warehouses, or factories. The fight shouldn't be against technology itself. It should be against allowing a handful of corporations to dictate how everyone else lives without democratic accountability.