AI, Midjourney, ChatGPT

AI Haters: The Misunderstood Technology Creating Controversy

AI has a serious image issue. The industry needs to employ informed communicators to educate the public.

Thanks to Midjourney AI for the image here. Prompt was: “detailed illustration of a college professor busily working at his computer, high-angle, academic setting in a bright, cheerful office with plenty of natural light — ar 2:1 — s 250 — v 6.0”

Last week, a long-term Facebook “friend” of mine actually unfriended me over my comment on an anti-AI tirade he posted. In his post, he essentially stated that he was drawing a line in the sand; AI was evil, period, and anyone who tolerated it was not welcome in his life.

He’d gone beyond triggered, in my opinion, having apparently come to feel truly threatened by AI. Perhaps he imagined AI’s potential to put him out of work as an artist. I left a brief and (I thought) fairly innocent comment like, “I think people can appreciate AI without losing interest in traditional art.”

It was too much for him. The next time I logged on, I saw he’d cut ties with me.

While this strikes me as absolutely strange and severe behavior, it opened my eyes to a group that I, as a tech guy, never really experienced first-hand — AI haters.

Why the Hate?

Most of the people who hate AI, based on my personal observations, tend to fall into one of two main camps:

• People who hate it because of AI imagery;