Have Hope and Be Punk.

Photo by Mark Mirko/Connecticut Public

I moderate a writing discord. In it, we have a channel for discussing AI (or LLMs as I will refer to them) where we talk about developments, its impact on the world/our creative profession, and just about aynthing we want to when it comes to LLMs.

This last weekend, a discussion cropped up about the politics and optics around LLMs and one person in particular said something that struck me pretty hard. The discussion was about resisting the system and how much we are forced to use things we may not want to. This person's response and reply amounted to "well, corporations have all the money and the power is top down so there's no fighting it."

And oh my god did I about explode.

Listen, I get not having hope for the future and just passively accepting what happens. As a Gen Z, it's really really hard not to do that. After all, what kind of a future do we have to look forward to? No affordable housing, healthcare, and an authoritarian regime that's in the pockets of billionaires (and establishment Dems are too) who don't give two shits about whether or not the planet is left after they've made their blood money?

It fucking sucks to have this much uncertainty about where our country is going.

But also over the weekend, we had the No Kings protests. Estimated to be bigger than the protests in June, people all over the country poured out to protest Trump's regime. While I was unable to join them, my heart was with them and so was my pocketbook.

But it highlighted the argument I made and will continue to make against the Doomer mindset and the idea of "well, the power is at the top and we can't fight it."

Yes, we can.

Yes, we should.

The power is with the people. It always has been, it always will be. Collective action has changed things time and again throughout history. It's one of the most powerful tools we as a populace have to change the course and future of our nations.

Do I think collective action is going to stop LLMs entirely or billionaires from being cocks? No. I don't. After all, we can't control international policy.

BUT. It will shape and influence public policy. It will hamstring these companies from becoming monopolies, it will keep them from using your data maliciously/unscrupulously, it will keep them from having their hands in the government where they do not belong.

Power is only derived from the consent of the governed. And if we don't consent, the power is gone.

So I guess the point of the post is this: don't be a Doomer. In a world that feels like it's crumbling, hope is punk and collective action, community, and working together to be a force for change will get us out the other side for a better tomorrow.

And P.S. action starts local. Support local business, borrow from the library, shop second-hand first and only buy new if you absolutely have to. Rage against the machine, buck the system. Be the change you want to see.

Until next time, be punk. Have hope. 🤘