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#resistai — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #resistai, aggregated by home.social.

  1. These #Maine #librarians are helping patrons resist #AI and #BigTech

    by Bridget Huber, July 2, 2026

    "In recent months, the #SearsmontME Town Library has added a new service for patrons: Help in removing AI from their phones and other devices.

    " 'A lot of times, it’s just telling people that they have choices,' Library Director #StevenBrown said. 'Their phone came a certain way, but they don’t have to use it the way that it came.'

    "Brown helps patrons disable AI-powered assistants like Siri or so-called smart features in email and switch from using Google, which doesn’t offer an option to search without AI overviews, to a browser that does.

    "A big part of his job as a librarian has been helping people with information technology, he said. He sees helping people think critically about technology and AI as a natural extension of this work.

    "While Brown’s long been skeptical of the purported benefits of technology for society, he didn’t start offering the #AIRemoval services until this spring, when he attended a webinar presented by #HannahCyrus, a #BangorME librarian who has become a leading voice in a nationwide movement of librarians who are working to help patrons understand the risks of AI and other technologies.

    " 'I seem to have become the face of #AIHaters — which I’m fine with — in the library world,' Cyrus said.

    "Cyrus, a reference librarian at the Bangor Public Library, teaches classes on how to use technology. But that doesn’t mean uncritically embracing and promoting it, she said.

    " 'I really try to make sure people not only know where to tap or click to get done what they want to do, but to understand the values and issues at play as they’re using different pieces of technology,' she said.

    "Commonly used tools like Gmail and Chat GPT are not neutral, she said. 'These are products created by giant #corporations who want your information and want your attention,' she said. “And that has real impacts on our lives.”

    "The most popular class Cyrus has taught is called #AvoidingAI, which explains what #GenerativeAI is, some of the concerns around it, and how to disable it and find alternatives. The first time she taught the class in fall of 2025 more than 70 people enrolled. She taught it again this spring, and Brown was one of 20 Maine librarians to enroll. "

    Read more:
    bangordailynews.com/2026/07/02

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/HRBPH

    #AIResistance #BigData #AISucks #MaineLibraries #LibrariesRule! #MaineResists #ResistAI

  2. Should we add "#SkinJobs" and "#Toasters" and "#GoRustYourself" to this list?

    How ‘#Clanker’ Became the Internet’s New Favorite Slur

    New derogatory phrases are popping up online, thanks to a cultural pushback against #AI

    by CT Jones, August 6, 2025

    "Clanker. #Wireback. #Cogsucker. People are feeling the inescapable inevitability of AI developments, the encroaching of the digital into everything from entertainment to work. And their answer? Slurs.

    "AI is everywhere — on Google summarizing search results and siphoning web traffic from digital publishers, on social media platforms like Instagram, X, and Facebook, adding misleading context to viral posts, or even powering #NaziChatbots. #GenerativeAI and #LargeLanguageModels — AI trained on huge datasets — are being used as therapists, consulted for medical advice, fueling spiritual psychosis, directing self-driving cars, and churning out everything from college essays to cover letters to breakup messages.

    "Alongside this deluge is a growing sense of discontent from people fearful of artificial intelligence stealing their jobs, and worried what effect it may have on future generations — losing important skills like media #literacy, #ProblemSolving, and #CognitiveFunction. This is the world where the popularity of AI and robot slurs has skyrocketed, being thrown at everything from ChatGPT servers to delivery drones to automated customer service representatives. Rolling Stone spoke with two language experts who say the rise in robot and AI slurs does come from a kind of cultural pushback against AI development, but what’s most interesting about the trend is that it uses one of the only tools AI can’t create: slang

    " '#Slang is moving so fast now that an #LLM trained on everything that happened before it is not going to have immediate access to how people are using a particular word now,' says Nicole Holliday, associate professor of linguistics at UC Berkeley. 'Humans [on] #UrbanDictionary are always going to win.' "

    Read more:
    rollingstone.com/culture/cultu

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/ku2Uw

    #BattlestarGalactica #AIResistance #AISucks #NoNukesForAI #NeoLuddites #ResistAI #LudditeClub #SmartPhoneAddiction #AreYouAlive #AreYouHuman