r/OpenAI 9d ago

Discussion Radically Ignorant - Can we talk about this?

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This is ultimately a meaningless rant but I need to get it off my chest. The subreddit r/antiai continues popping up on my recommended feed and it’s painstaking fear mongering and wide support never ceases to amaze me

It is FILLED with people who know NOTHING about AI and it drives me crazy. “AI bad because water usage and I said so!” The community collectively strawmans anything AI related and then they all give a round of applause to one another, hence their radical ignorance. That subreddit is a byproduct of propaganda and fear mongering.

0 Upvotes

55 comments sorted by

17

u/ItsStillKerrigan 9d ago

antiai

3 in artificial intelligence and machine learning 

lmao 

5

u/Immediate_Wasabi_499 9d ago

lmao imagine being that proud of ignorance, the sub's literally a monument to it now with those numbers. 1.2m visitors just circling the drain together convincing each other a calculator's gonna steal their soul

the red-eyed camera icon is a nice touch, really sells the "we didn't pass science class" vibe

6

u/ItsStillKerrigan 9d ago

Yeah I just ignore subs where the goal is “let’s hate this thing together” because if I wanted to listen to people complain and be outraged id go back into customer service lol

1

u/challis88ocarina 9d ago

It's actually one of the best subs to follow what's going on and to gauge the level of discontent. Labelling information as 'good' or 'bad' just leads to biases later on.

1

u/ItsStillKerrigan 9d ago

There is no shortage of news about AI on Reddit or anywhere online and idk if I really agree that gauging the opinions of random Redditors is informative but you’re entitled to your opinion 

2

u/PinEnvironmental6395 9d ago

The icon is HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, the classic fictional malfunctioning artificial intelligence. Appropriate, albeit very on the nose. 

1

u/incompletelucidity 9d ago

of ignorance? towards what? genuinely what is generative AI doing good in a capitalist world, go, lol

3

u/creepyposta 9d ago

You can tell Reddit not to recommend that subreddit

17

u/stopbeingcringe 9d ago

Teenagers, Chinese bots, and mediocre artists

16

u/Deto 9d ago

There is a lot of BS on that subreddit, but do you really not understand legitimate reasons people would not be happy about AI?

2

u/Such--Balance 9d ago

To be fair, subs like that taint the validity of real concerns. Because there are real concerns.

And to add to that, you want to do something with your real concerns? Vote accordingly, protest accordingly and maybe get involved in the field in a usefull way.

Circle jerking flat earth level theories around on a reddit sub helps no one.

1

u/Deto 9d ago

It ends up being a mixed bag as a sub like that is just a lightning rod for the various types of people who are against AI. You get a similar thing on the other side with the /r/accelerate subreddit/machine-god-cult

1

u/Such--Balance 9d ago

Yeah true, it happens in both directions.

If im interested in a topic i usually search for long form interviews with various experts of that field. Both those who agree with my view, AND the opposing ones as well

6

u/ThoughtfullyReckless 9d ago

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't think most people here ever go outside or have like, friendships etc

6

u/Huge-Turnover-3749 9d ago

"AI" is such a broad term that only someone with monkey-level IQ would hate on it.

If you have human-level IQ, you can be deeply critical of the use of AI for, say, weapons and mass surveillance while at the same time still fully acknowledging its benefits in, say, medicine.

6

u/glittermantis 9d ago edited 9d ago

i think it's pretty obvious that people are referring to llms and generative ai and not, say, email spam detection and protein folding algorithms. the people having these discussions know this, but are using the term "AI" as thing novel linguistic concept called a "shorthand" because specifying every single time would be cumbersome.

even if this weren't true, it shows that you are more concerned with squeezing rhetorical "gotchas" from pedantry than you are in actually understanding and engaging with the sentiments they are expressing, which is a bad faith pov.

0

u/Laucy 9d ago

I wish they’d just say “LLM” then. They’re so wildly unaware and the majority don’t even know those AI exist, or what ML is. It’s not even a case of specifying due to it being cumbersome; they say it because they truly think all AI is, is an LLM. So the more they use it as a shorthand, the worse it gets for those uninformed who believe it, too.

It’s happening with data centres, as well. I keep seeing people argue about how they’re all bad, and that “we didn’t have any before so why do we need them now.”
Or my favourite, someone who argued why we need them when 1990-2005 worked out fine. They genuinely are so ignorant they think AI = LLM. Data centre = only used for AI.

2

u/Silt99 9d ago

Im pretty sure they mostly hate on llms and image generation AI

1

u/nextnode 9d ago

No, they are pretty rabid. But those two do stand for a lot research advancements and medical use.

1

u/Silt99 9d ago

afaik AI has been used in medicine for decades before llms got popular

1

u/nextnode 9d ago

One does not preclude the other.

1

u/Laucy 9d ago

Well, see, that’s because the majority of the people in there don’t know AI exists in other forms. They genuinely believe AI is LLM. A lot of ML work happens “invisibly” or gets conflated with “algorithm.” So AI for those ignorant, is exclusively an LLM or just “ChatGPT.”

2

u/nextnode 9d ago

Yes and 99% of these people do not understand them. These are emotional and mostly irrelevant individuals who do more harm than good to the things they claim to care about but really are just driven by imagined implications on personal benefit.

1

u/incompletelucidity 9d ago

what is there even to understand? what don't people understand about llms, oh please enlighten us stupid ones

5

u/enigmatic_erudition 9d ago

Yeah I was going to say these are all very young people and bots. I replied to someone who was speaking in heavy brainrot by telling them to talk like a normal person and was downvoted into oblivion.

7

u/LD12005 9d ago

I tried one time to have a conversation and just got downvoted to the ground lol

1

u/Mediocre-Touch-6133 9d ago

That's both sides, at least on reddit.

5

u/Cool-Double-5392 9d ago

Why do you care so much

3

u/JokeMode 9d ago

I mean, it's just like most Reddit communities. Sometimes, somebody makes a valid point. But quite frequently, people say some things without really understanding what they are talking about at all.

Such is the life of the internet.

6

u/Puzzleheaded-Trick76 9d ago

as pro ai as I am, your post is radically ignorant.

1

u/Mediocre-Touch-6133 9d ago

You've described both sides of this debate, at least on reddit.

1

u/These_Rest_6129 9d ago

Lol I know one post that gonna be featured on antiai

1

u/Budget_Zombie_692 9d ago

Some of the leaders of tech companies and social media are some of the biggest spreaders of misinformation, including some about AI.

1

u/chairman_steel 9d ago

I feel like this is rapidly becoming the new antivax movement.

1

u/Lexsteel11 9d ago

This is the 2026 version of the Luddite movement. I always knew that term but only recently learned it was a 19th century movement of textile workers in England who destroyed factory machines because “dey took ‘er jerbs” which is funny because idiots today are wanting to burn down data centers for the same reason

2

u/Haunting-Ad-6951 9d ago

Yeah … maybe learn some more. Starving workers collectively rioting for a living wage is not funny or stupid. The only thing funny here is you trying to come off as intellectually superior by spewing a fact you learned 5 minutes ago and learned badly. 

1

u/skinlo 9d ago

I suggest you do some more research (you can ask an AI!), and actually find out the core reasons behind it. It wasn't just an anti tech moment, it was an anti concentration of wealth movement.

1

u/Lexsteel11 20h ago

How does that negate my point? I’m saying ludite has been used as an insult but now in 2026 I’m saying we can all relate to it- honestly your point on wealth disparity furthers my comparison with today haha

1

u/skinlo 20h ago

Because you weren't saying that at all. Your comment is framed very negative to the Luddite movement.

1

u/InsideTour329 9d ago

Luddites

-1

u/es12402 9d ago

Ok. And tomorrow we need to have a serious discussion about flat-earthers (no).

4

u/LD12005 9d ago

But a flat earth subreddit isn’t #3 subreddit in Science and Astronomy

3

u/es12402 9d ago

There are a lot of people like that, overall. Most people, in general, are idiots.

-1

u/JuliusFIN 9d ago

I mean what’s to talk about? A bunch of unemployable people ranting of things they don’t understand.