I feel like there are parallels to climate change and veganism in AI individually you're tempted and encouraged to do something that you know is immoral, but you feel like you can't affect things much anyway so why not enjoy the personal benefits while you can, especially if it's become the norm
— Freya Holmér (@freya.bsky.social) October 18, 2026 at 10:56 AM
it's also like with both of those, something you can just *do*. i think meat is unethical, so i withdraw my demand for it. i don't need to campaign to get any laws passed to have my effect.
as in, i'm for open borders and rights &c, but i am not in a position of privilege to directly affect those.
(really thinking out loud now)
sure i can talk to people about these things, protest, write to my m.p., and even vote (lol), but i can't have a slightly-more-open-border just by choosing. that's a national government thing, and it takes a concerted effort from a large group of people to change.
that last point is also true of these other things! a large public campaign can effect climate (lumping veganism in with that now) and gen-A.I., but you also have personal choices every day. and if you eat meat while publicly campaigning against it... you won't be taken seriously.
on the other hand, at the moment, it feels like there is a difference: gen-a.i. is being forced upon us. there's an element that it's not (just?) demand that's driving its growth, it's speculation. the meat industry is no more a bubble than the rest of capitalism (which is a non-zero amount).
(written over an increasing series of bsky posts that made me then go... 'this is just a blog post')
