If Christian Nationalists intend to use their "religious liberty" to reject civil rights law, humanists will use ours to reject corporate greed and forced automation. Count on it!
We are entitled to the same legal rights and protections for our deeply-held beliefs and won't be sitting on the sidelines.
If you are being pressured to use AI at work in ways that violate your ethics, reach out: AmericanHumanist.Org/Legal
If technology can be abused, it will be abused and nothing has ever had a greater potential for abuse than artificial intelligence. Just like religion gives some people all the reason they need to never actually think for themselves, AI has the same potential but on a vastly larger scale.
Most swords (not all) have TWO edges. The same may be said for any technology. As I wrote, years ago: "A sword may strike friend or foe; the difference depends on the one wielding it."
I have little doubt but that there are people out there who are genuinely CREATIVE, whose minds are awash with ideas and concepts which they wish to press into service as a part of their employment or purely express as a part of themselves. Using AI might be construed as a crutch to them or worse: something which could twist their expression into something they didn't intend. Whether this describes Mr. Durman's situation or not, I don't know. Still as ubiquitous as AI has become over the last couple of years, his desire to steer clear of it is perfectly valid and damned well ought to be respected.
As Spock once said: "Computers make excellent and efficient servants; but I have no wish to serve under them." Not quite the same circumstance, but similar enough.
I worked 37 years without AI. I can write posts without AI. I can be creative without AI. I use what’s commonly known as “brain power”, no additional color or flavorings
Kay-El 🎯 I have a neighbor who uses Ai to write me a note if I ask about something regarding the condo assoc.. It’s always obvious with the diplomacy and non-personal guides. I get how it can be helpful to write to politicians or employers to a degree but it’s not a substitute for formulating thought with our own brain!
Further Thought: I have frequently joked that my writing muse is more often than not narcoleptic or just plain out for a short beer. I LOVE to write when I have something I feel compelled to write about. When that does happen, I want whatever I put down in ones and zeros to be an expression of ME. I might ask an AI for help with structure here and there, but NOT WITH CONTENT.
I don't need help saying what I want to say when I actually HAVE something to say.
You'll pardon me if I find that strip more than a little disturbing. The whole paradigm of the Genie in the Bottle strikes me as being more than a little apt here.
Another Thought: I doubt that I'm the first person to think of this, but AI has the potential to make people who are ordinarily at least reasonably creative LAZY, by leaning on an AI or a LLM either to create or fill out their creations. I would hope that there will remain those like Mr. Durman who will eschew the use of those tools, preferring to lean on his own thought processes to produce something that is wholly original, without an assist from artificial intelligence.
And I genuinely believe there is something quite significant to be said for that.
Very interesting. I don't usually identify as a humanist, but my thinking about AI is similar to Mr. Durman's.... and apparently some Christians think along the same lines.
"religious concerns about AI" IMO if its one thing AI is doing, its proving how bat shit crazy most religions are. Superstitions, make believe, and all powerful deities can be easily created without any real effort.
If Christian Nationalists intend to use their "religious liberty" to reject civil rights law, humanists will use ours to reject corporate greed and forced automation. Count on it!
We are entitled to the same legal rights and protections for our deeply-held beliefs and won't be sitting on the sidelines.
If you are being pressured to use AI at work in ways that violate your ethics, reach out: AmericanHumanist.Org/Legal
-Fish Stark, AHA
If technology can be abused, it will be abused and nothing has ever had a greater potential for abuse than artificial intelligence. Just like religion gives some people all the reason they need to never actually think for themselves, AI has the same potential but on a vastly larger scale.
Most swords (not all) have TWO edges. The same may be said for any technology. As I wrote, years ago: "A sword may strike friend or foe; the difference depends on the one wielding it."
What’s old is new. Straight out of the Butlerian Jihad in Dune. Can the Bene Gesseret, Mentats, and the Spacing Guild be far behind?
I have little doubt but that there are people out there who are genuinely CREATIVE, whose minds are awash with ideas and concepts which they wish to press into service as a part of their employment or purely express as a part of themselves. Using AI might be construed as a crutch to them or worse: something which could twist their expression into something they didn't intend. Whether this describes Mr. Durman's situation or not, I don't know. Still as ubiquitous as AI has become over the last couple of years, his desire to steer clear of it is perfectly valid and damned well ought to be respected.
As Spock once said: "Computers make excellent and efficient servants; but I have no wish to serve under them." Not quite the same circumstance, but similar enough.
I worked 37 years without AI. I can write posts without AI. I can be creative without AI. I use what’s commonly known as “brain power”, no additional color or flavorings
Kay-El 🎯 I have a neighbor who uses Ai to write me a note if I ask about something regarding the condo assoc.. It’s always obvious with the diplomacy and non-personal guides. I get how it can be helpful to write to politicians or employers to a degree but it’s not a substitute for formulating thought with our own brain!
Can I borrow some brain power? I Occasionally misplace mine.
Further Thought: I have frequently joked that my writing muse is more often than not narcoleptic or just plain out for a short beer. I LOVE to write when I have something I feel compelled to write about. When that does happen, I want whatever I put down in ones and zeros to be an expression of ME. I might ask an AI for help with structure here and there, but NOT WITH CONTENT.
I don't need help saying what I want to say when I actually HAVE something to say.
Posted this one already, but...
gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2026/10/25
(click on comic to enlarge/enhance)
You'll pardon me if I find that strip more than a little disturbing. The whole paradigm of the Genie in the Bottle strikes me as being more than a little apt here.
Pretty sure Steph meant it to be disturbing. Something that might keep a person up at night contemplating the possible ramifications of AI.
A good cartoon artist can do that, and Pastis has shown that he knows how quite often.
Depressing…
Another Thought: I doubt that I'm the first person to think of this, but AI has the potential to make people who are ordinarily at least reasonably creative LAZY, by leaning on an AI or a LLM either to create or fill out their creations. I would hope that there will remain those like Mr. Durman who will eschew the use of those tools, preferring to lean on his own thought processes to produce something that is wholly original, without an assist from artificial intelligence.
And I genuinely believe there is something quite significant to be said for that.
Fantastic! I have copied this text and plan to submit it to my employer if they encourage and/or require me to use AI.
𝐒𝐚𝐮𝐜𝐞: Good on 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ goose 𝑎𝑛𝑑 gander!
STOP THE SLOP!!!
Very interesting. I don't usually identify as a humanist, but my thinking about AI is similar to Mr. Durman's.... and apparently some Christians think along the same lines.
"religious concerns about AI" IMO if its one thing AI is doing, its proving how bat shit crazy most religions are. Superstitions, make believe, and all powerful deities can be easily created without any real effort.
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p09z6fnd/watch
https://magiclight.ai/tools/ai-bible-video-generator/
God Bless AI? 🤪
Glad to hear this! oraxx is so spot on that if technology CAN be abused, it WILL be.