AI Resistance: some recent anti-AI stuff that’s worth discussing • Hacker News Board

Re: AI Resistance: some recent anti-AI stuff that’s worth discussing

#21

Post by orbital-decay » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 8:53 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #9

I'm glad this person found community, but I think they've been a bit starstruck by concentrated interest. At no point in the next 30 years will there not be an active community of people who "loathe" AI and work to obstruct it. There are those people about smart phones, the Internet itself, even television. Meanwhile: the ability to poison models, if it can be made to work reliably, is a genuinely interesting CS ques…

SEO has happily mutated into LLM training and agentic search optimization, if that's what you're wondering.

Re: AI Resistance: some recent anti-AI stuff that’s worth discussing

#22

Post by Mordisquitos » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 8:53 PM UTC

madamelic wrote: post #11

I do understand people's dislike / hatred for AI but I am equally baffled. I feel like the same people that shout "Capitalism sucks, free us from our labor" are the exact same types that hate AI. The exact machine that will free you from your labor, when harnessed correctly, is the exact thing you hate. The "cyber psychosis" thing is overblown just like the "Tesla ignites its passengers" is. The only reason it gets i…

> The same people that shout "Capitalism sucks, free us from our labor" are the exact same types that hate AI. The exact machine that will free you from your labor, when harnessed correctly, is the exact thing you hate.

What is your source on them being "the exact same types"?

Re: AI Resistance: some recent anti-AI stuff that’s worth discussing

#23

Post by Groxx » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 8:53 PM UTC

madamelic wrote: post #11

I do understand people's dislike / hatred for AI but I am equally baffled. I feel like the same people that shout "Capitalism sucks, free us from our labor" are the exact same types that hate AI. The exact machine that will free you from your labor, when harnessed correctly, is the exact thing you hate. The "cyber psychosis" thing is overblown just like the "Tesla ignites its passengers" is. The only reason it gets i…

>The exact machine that will free you from your labor, when harnessed correctly, is the exact thing you hate.

I don't think it's all that complex tbh. The freeing from labor, both in the past and now, has been achieved largely by firing people, abandoning them to starve while power concentrates in the already-powerful.

This is the exact same thing the Luddites were taking issue with. Because they partly succeeded, we have better labor laws today.

Re: AI Resistance: some recent anti-AI stuff that’s worth discussing

#24

Post by MisterTea » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 8:53 PM UTC

madamelic wrote: post #11

I do understand people's dislike / hatred for AI but I am equally baffled. I feel like the same people that shout "Capitalism sucks, free us from our labor" are the exact same types that hate AI. The exact machine that will free you from your labor, when harnessed correctly, is the exact thing you hate. The "cyber psychosis" thing is overblown just like the "Tesla ignites its passengers" is. The only reason it gets i…

> The exact machine that will free you from your labor, when harnessed correctly, is the exact thing you hate.

Who said it has to be AI?

Re: AI Resistance: some recent anti-AI stuff that’s worth discussing

#25

Post by zoogeny » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 8:54 PM UTC

I often question my own bias on this because in my interactions with local non-tech people, the adoption of AI has pretty much affected everyone I know and it is by my estimation a majority positive reaction. I live in a fairly rural part of the PNW.

So when I read "People hate what AI is doing to our world." it honestly feels like either I am completely deluded or the author is. It feels like a high school bully saying "No one here likes you" to try to gaslight his victim.

I mean, obviously there are many vocal opponents to AI, I see them on social media including here on HN. And I hear some trepidation in person as well. But almost everyone I know, from trades-people to teachers, are adopting AI in some capacity and report positive uses and interactions.

Re: AI Resistance: some recent anti-AI stuff that’s worth discussing

#26

Post by righthand » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 8:55 PM UTC

madamelic wrote: post #11

I do understand people's dislike / hatred for AI but I am equally baffled. I feel like the same people that shout "Capitalism sucks, free us from our labor" are the exact same types that hate AI. The exact machine that will free you from your labor, when harnessed correctly, is the exact thing you hate. The "cyber psychosis" thing is overblown just like the "Tesla ignites its passengers" is. The only reason it gets i…

“Capitalism sucks, Free us from our labor” is not “capitalism harder and implement automation so we dont have to work”.

Re: AI Resistance: some recent anti-AI stuff that’s worth discussing

#27

Post by paganel » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 8:55 PM UTC

MisterTea wrote: post #19

My take on AI is that it's a corporate tool used to extract more work from employees while tricking them into thinking they are turbo-charged devs. These days the tech industry is more moneyed circus than serious effort to improve humanity.

> into thinking they are turbo-charged devs

Fortunately no-one sane enough among us, computer programmers, believes in that bs, we all see this masquerade for what it mostly is, basically a money grab.

Re: AI Resistance: some recent anti-AI stuff that’s worth discussing

#28

Post by jstummbillig » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 8:55 PM UTC

madamelic wrote: post #11

I do understand people's dislike / hatred for AI but I am equally baffled. I feel like the same people that shout "Capitalism sucks, free us from our labor" are the exact same types that hate AI. The exact machine that will free you from your labor, when harnessed correctly, is the exact thing you hate. The "cyber psychosis" thing is overblown just like the "Tesla ignites its passengers" is. The only reason it gets i…

> The exact machine that will free you from your labor, when harnessed correctly, is the exact thing you hate.

I think this is easily explained: Sequencing matters. It I lose my job due to AI and it takes just 1-2 years for AI benefits to arrive at my door, that is plenty of time to be very anxious about my life. If I was guaranteed the AI benefits before I potentially lose my job, very different story.

That seems hard to set up, but alas.

Re: AI Resistance: some recent anti-AI stuff that’s worth discussing

#29

Post by mjtk » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 8:56 PM UTC

madamelic wrote: post #11

I do understand people's dislike / hatred for AI but I am equally baffled. I feel like the same people that shout "Capitalism sucks, free us from our labor" are the exact same types that hate AI. The exact machine that will free you from your labor, when harnessed correctly, is the exact thing you hate. The "cyber psychosis" thing is overblown just like the "Tesla ignites its passengers" is. The only reason it gets i…

In most cases, "free us from our labor" does not imply that they want machines to take their jobs so that they will have no means to subsist.

Re: AI Resistance: some recent anti-AI stuff that’s worth discussing

#30

Post by sov » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 8:56 PM UTC

jrflo wrote: post #3

Seems a bit counterproductive if you're concerned about the environmental impact of AI to trick hyperscalers into burning more compute

maybe, but they're burning the compute regardless. it seems ostensibly likely that reducing the ROI for compute burnt will cause less compute to be burnt long term