You can't escape AI, but not using it is an option

I've seen a lot of random people around the internet proclaiming that they're going to give up some service or product because of its use of AI. This kind of performative action occurs any time something new enters an industry, and sometimes even works to effect change.

However, this time, it seems these efforts are not only going to hurt you, the user, more than it will these companies embracing AI, but you're soon going to run out of options.

First off, I want to say that I've always been skeptical of this so-called "artificial intelligence." It's a bad name for a technology that has existed since at least the 1980s that is otherwise useful and a natural evolution of what computers can do.

Like other recent technological garbage that flooded the internet, NFTs and crypto for example, the foundational technology, in that case the blockchain, is actually a good thing. It's just that humanity has a bad habit of taking something useful and revolutionary and turning it into a capitalistic endeavor that inevitably destroys public trust in the technology.

I think the same has occurred with AI.

Generative versus productive

We've seen a rapid expansion from terrible generative images with too many fingers and videos resembling fever dreams to something bordering on the uncanny valley. It's incredible how quickly this technology has iterated, but it is clear that there is a ceiling, and we're nearly there if not there already.

This "slop" is the primary problem with the perception of AI. Companies scraped the internet for everything it had so they could take an input and turn it into some kind of output while taking into consideration everything that's ever been said or created in human history. It is an invasive and perverted interaction and leaves many feeling dirty at the thought.

That said, this is only one aspect of AI. Generating text, images, and video are all obvious functions of LLMs, but this isn't their only use case.

Of course, there is no putting the genie back in the bottle. Scraping the web of all of its contents can't be undone, and no amount of regulation is going to fix that. The technology exists, and it can't be stopped.

There is a bright side, though. AI can be useful when utilized correctly. If we ignore the idiotic capitalistic nonsense that has taken place to make AI this dumb buzzword people slap on everything from clothing to bottled water, there's actually something worth having.

Like with the advent of the internet, there is no avoiding it. Sure, a select few humans managed to scrape by without even an email address for the better part of a decade, but they were quickly disadvantaged as members of modern society. Flip this on its head, and this is what leads to problematic implementations of technology, like needing a Facebook account to access local government notices.

There will always be good and bad with stuff like this. The thing is, as dumb as AI is, it is a natural progression of technology. We'd have arrived at this point, scraping the web or not. The groundwork has been laid since the dawn of the personal computer.

So, I find it funny when I encounter these people saying that they're going to avoid AI. They plan to buy a computer without AI, install Linux, and run open-source software to avoid AI at all costs.

I'm not saying these people are dumb or shortsighted, but I am saying they have their work cut out for them. It feels more like cutting off your nose to spite your face than any real form of protest.

The opposite has occurred too. I've seen perfectly reasonable people turn their entire personality into "AI enthusiast." Entire podcasts have transformed from tech advice and discussions into which version of which bot gives the best output. As a tech fan, it is exhausting.

I really hope sanity prevails and we arrive at some kind of middle ground soon. AI isn't the end of the world, nor is it the savior of humanity. It's just a better hammer, and there's always going to be some kind of fallout from that kind of invention.

AI can be private, useful, and run on renewable energy

We're about to see the launch of Apple Intelligence powered by Apple Foundation Models that have been trained by Google Gemini. This has caused people to suggest that they want to move away from Apple, which is notable considering you won't find another smartphone with less AI, I can promise you that.

Of all the places that AI could actually work and work well for users, I believe it is on Apple platforms. The data on our devices is end-to-end encrypted, and nothing leaves without our explicit permission. If something is sent to Private Cloud Compute, it is unencrypted in the server for AI processing, but Apple has taken measures and undergoes audits to ensure users trust that their data is being discarded.

Apple does this whenever anything leaves the device for AI unless the user deliberately says to send something to ChatGPT. That isn't going to change.

Google is building its own version of Private Cloud Compute, but it is using it much more sparingly. It targets these servers for specific features, and if I understand correctly, only two features exist today that use them, and they are both only available on Pixel phones.

If AI is good for anything, it is taking a load of data and parsing it for a simplistic output or action. Apple's on-device AI will be able to understand everything you've got stored on your iPhone, including the function and control of every single app.

We're all about to have a powerful tool at our disposal, and how we use it is up to us. Leaving the Apple ecosystem is silly, and turning off the feature only hurts yourself as the tools already exist and run on renewable energy or off of your device itself.

Whatever your concerns with AI beyond how it was developed, Apple has addressed those concerns. Even the Apple Foundation Models started as ethically as Apple could manage by only training on publicly sourced data or paid licensing. Of course, Apple could have done better by telling everyone what AppleBot was doing before it did it, but again, can't go back in time and fix that.

AI is meant to be a background technology

The annoying CEO grifters selling AI as some kind of solution for all of humanity's problems while simultaneously suggesting it could also end humanity has soured our perception of perfectly reasonable technology. Just like how autocomplete learned how you type to give you suggestions above your keyboard, Apple's on-device AI will privately learn about you to help you better manage your data and perform tasks.

It's not that I'm asking you to embrace AI, but rather, understand that there isn't any avoiding it. Even if you choose not to actively engage with AI yourself, there isn't any way to avoid using a device, app, or service that is completely devoid of AI.

The same people saying they want to avoid AI post about it on social networks built with AI on operating systems running apps that have had AI touch many parts of their development. For better or worse, you can't get away from it.

So, instead of going out of your way to hurt yourself with some silly performative actions, try to understand the difference between good and bad uses of the technology. We can all agree what bad AI looks like: Grok, chatbot relationships, medical advice, deepfakes, and so on. Avoiding and protesting those is a good idea.

Let's look forward to what is actually promised by this technology: organization, productivity, and proactive action. Just make sure you're using AI responsibly and don't do something stupid like give ChatGPT your Apple Health data for bad medical advice.