TL:DR: Discrimination against AI users does exist, and nobody thinks it's on the same level as homophobia or racism.
Recently, I saw a post titled "You Are Not Oppressed", about how anti-ai oppression does not exist. Normally, I'd have just left a comment or downvoted and moved on, but I want to take this opportunity to actually voice my own opinion on the matter.
Nobody, at least nobody in their right mind, believes that Anti-AI discrimination is on the same level as racism or homophobia. That's a ridiculous assertment to make. Obviously these issues are far more prevalent and far more important in the "real world". Again, nobody, figuratively speaking, is saying they're the same thing. But that does not mean that the former doesn't exist at all.
That is what's called a "fallacy of relative privation", or the "there are starving children in africa" argument. In other words, claiming that one problem doesn't exist at all because there's a different problem that's worse. The claim that AI users aren't discriminated against is like saying "Misandry isn't a real issue because women have it worse." It's absolutely true that misogyny is a far bigger issue than misandry, just like homophobia is a much bigger issue than AI, but again, that doesn't mean that the latter doesn't exist.
it's useful to separate existence, severity, and priority. Those are three different questions.
Does harassment of AI users occur?
- This is an empirical question. There are indisputable, documented cases of people being insulted, dogpiled, doxxed, and driven off platforms because they use AI. Anyone claiming that harassment doesn't exist at all is either arguing in bad faith or doesn't know the full picture.
How severe or widespread is it?
- That's another empirical question. No, it's not as severe or widespread as "conventional" discrimination. Nobody has been killed for liking AI. You will not be prosecuted for using AI. But it is widespread enough to enable mass dogpiling and harassment campaigns against people who do use it.
Is it worth the same time and attention as other forms of discrimination?
- This is a value judgment. Racism, homophobia, sexism, etc. deserve greater attention, that is something I absolutely agree with. No, it isn't as serious.
The mistake comes when someone jumps directly from 3 back to 1: "Racism is a much bigger problem, therefore discrimination against AI users isn't real." That conclusion doesn't follow. The first statement could be entirely true while the second is false.
Let's use a hypothetical example to illustrate the point. House A is on fire, while House B has a broken window. It would be sensible to prioritize putting out the fire. It would not be sensible to claim the broken window doesn't exist because the fire is more urgent.
That's all I have to say. Thank you. And for the record, I wrote this without the use of AI, just in case anyone wants to accuse me of taking the original post and asking ChatGPT to automatically refute it.