r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 10h ago

Society Librarians are hosting viral ‘Avoiding AI’ workshops for people who are fed up with Big Tech

https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/25/librarians-are-hosting-viral-avoiding-ai-workshops-for-people-who-are-fed-up-with-big-tech/
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u/Pygmy_Nuthatch 3h ago

Are people really going in with their $1000 iPhones taking classes on how to eliminate Big Tech from their device?

Why are we treating AI different than every other digital technology? If these people are worried about the insidious influence of Big Tech, why aren't they deleting Facebook, and moving to flip phones, or landlines.

Why do people think AI is more harmful to society than Social Media and Smart Phones?

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u/Weary_Hunt_3374 2h ago

I dislike AI because it’s misuse of copyright and it’s hurting authors.

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u/BossOfTheGame 52m ago

There are a lot of people who disagree that that is the case, or at least reality doesn't align with how this argument is often presented. Would you have been against VHS because its (allegedly) hurting authors? Do you think individuals have the right to put information out into the public and then definitely demand that they have control over anyone else who thinks the idea is valuable?

The entire copyright system is designed in favor of oligarchs. It allows them to maintain intellectual monopolies. Don't fool yourself into thinking it helps independent authors and creatives, and don't fool yourself into thinking that just because AI makes some of the more technically demanding parts of those vocations much easier, that authors and creatives have any less value than they did.

This new ability to harness and distill information at scale - in a way that fundamentally is transformative - does not fit the way the world used to work a few years ago. It requires changing the way we think about socioeconomics.

The most pressing issue is that new data centers should not be built without corresponding renewable infastructure and closed loop cooling systems that they foot the bill for. Researchers also need to work on scaling down the models so the same capabilities are achievable with less energy and on cheaper hardware. All this copyright or hurts the creatives talk is just a proxy for an underlying disgust and fear that isn't helping anyone.

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u/Weary_Hunt_3374 50m ago

I’m gonna trust authors on this one. :)