Hello.

I intend this thread to be a sincere discussion regarding both the usage of GenAI on db0 and the place of "pro vs anti" discourse in our communities.

There have been heightening tensions between both groups online, especially here on Lemmy and especially here on db0. For a good case study, see this recent thread in the lefty memes comm.

I will preface this with the fact that I am very much in the "pro-AI" camp; stated for the purpose of clarity, transparency, and honesty. I study machine learning academically and am aware of my own biases. I believe much anti-AI discourse fundamentally doesn't understand what they're talking about and mistakenly directs their own anti-capitalist, anti-corporatist sentiments towards a morally/ethically neutral technology that can be used for both great good and great evil. I disdain OpenAI, Anthropic, and others - not really for any reason other than they're massive corporations and it is antithetical to my beliefs what they do and the products they develop. I digress, I'm not here to proselytize.

With that said, I am of the opinion that the "anti-AI" communities in the fediverse and on social media as a whole have a significantly more toxic culture and are quite reactionary in nature. It is a known issue amongst moderation here on db0 that this particular group is known for brigading and being generally hostile.

Regardless of your stance on the matter, I think it is obvious that this issue is getting continually worse and needs some sort of community level solution. The status quo here is untenable and is only going to inflame more tensions in both camps the longer it is allowed to go on.

I don't intend this thread to be a location for proponents of either side of this argument to stand on a soapbox necessarily. This is about figuring out a way to coexist when a handful of individuals seem absolutely set on malicious behavior. How can we lessen animosity between these different parties and sort of "simmer down" the poisonous rhetoric that is generally employed all across the AI debate? You see proponents of both views engaging in egregious argumentative practices at times and it is clear that this situation is continually degrading and needs something to be done about it.

Thoughts?