Ryan M. Williams — Writer. Illustrator. Librarian.

I don’t use generative A.I.

I don’t worry about being left behind.

I don’t use A.I. to ‘automate’ tasks.

The LLMs requiring giant industrial data centers that will never be economically viable, that are absolutely environmentally destructive, that are built on plagiarism and theft, and that have shown to be wildly inaccurate, harmful, and unable to increase productivity in any meaningful way—are nothing but a crime. The whole thing is a crime.

I write because I love to write. I use a computer to write, but not the A.I. garbage these companies try to force into everything.

I’m not interested in having A.I. involved in brainstorming, outlining, or in any part of my creative process. It has no place.

I love 3D modeling, illustration, digital sculpting. Blender is my hands-down favorite application. I have no interest in generative A.I. doing any of that creative work for me.

I’m a librarian and I’ve seen how badly A.I. messes up even the simpliest queries. Librarians have long taught people how to seek for, and evaluate information. Our degree is a Master of Library and Information Science. I understand that people want a simple way to search for and receive “an answer.” A.I. provides an answer, just don’t count on it being correct.

These days I work in IT for the library. Every day I deal with complex applications and data. I don’t use A.I. in that context either. When I’m writing code the last thing I want is an A.I. involved. I enjoy writing code. It’s something else I’ve done since I was a kid, teaching myself coding on one of the first computers our school had received. None of the teachers knew what to do with it, so a friend and I taught ourselves how to write programs. It was great fun.

I neither want, no need to have A.I. do any of these things.

As a lifelong science fiction fan, I’ve always enjoyed stories featuring robots, androids, and other computer intelligences. Clifford D. Simak often wrote about robots. As did (of course) Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert (who also had people rise up against the machines), and so many others. I watched Star Wars IV when it first came out and saw C3-PO and R2-D2 among others. When Star Trek: The Next Generation came out, we saw Data and holographic intelligences. That was explored more in Star Trek: Voyager with the Doctor. I also watched Battlestar Galactica (both versions) and the war against the Cylons. Doctor Who with the Cybermen and Daleks. I watched Terminator and the Matrix. I read nonfiction books about the Singularity and artificial intelligence and the beginnings of neural networks. And I read and thought about the future conflicts such technology would cause.

The A.I. we have today isn’t the A.I. in those stories and books. It’s a bubble that is going to burst. And even if it was, even if it could (it can’t) lead to artificial general intelligence, the conflicts still exist. C3-PO is very different than Data. Droids in Star Wars are enslaved, fitted with restraining bolts. In Star Trek, we see that debate repeated continuously around Data and the Doctor (and the Federation, despite all of this, ends up creating enslaved groups of both—very disappointing). Automation doesn’t mean artificial general intelligence. A better tool to clean my floors doesn’t need much computing power. It’s important to consider where automation is used, what role and control people have in that process.

A.I. as it exists today is extremely destructive and coercive. It’s important that we course correct.

A.I. is an attempt to gain power, wealth, and control. It is propped up by corruption in business and our politics.

Suggesting that I use A.I. for any of the things I do is like suggesting I should let A.I. have sex “for” me, so I don’t have to bother. Um, no. I’d rather have sex. I’d rather write. Read for myself and come to my own conclusions. Draw, paint, model, and sculpt for myself. Create and edit my own videos. Publish my creations how I want, without involving A.I. in the process. I don’t need or want A.I. involved in any of it.

Nor, I must add, am I interested in your A.I. creations. I don’t care if you think it’s ‘just a tool’ you use. Fuck that. I’m not interested. If you used A.I. in the creation of anything own it, be up front about it, and accept that some people aren’t going to be interested as a result. That’s fine. I’m not your audience. Move on.