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@thebacklistbook.bsky.social Sep 21, 2026, 5:33 AM

Salient discussion regarding ai harms from tumblr. Plus a reading list for anyone interested in educating themselves on the matter. #noai #aiharms #aieducation

moonshinemagpie:

I'm finding it immensely helpful to read books about AI, because my past grumblings of "it's bad for the environment" really pale in comparison to what I'm learning.

But im not finding it easier to talk about AI with the people in my life who use it. The evils are both enormous and complex. I cannot, on the spot and in casual conversation, recite the colonial and political history that led to entire towns in Chile being devastated by AI data centers. It is unseemly to bring up how many women have had miscarriages because of lack of access to drinking water worsened by data center usage in places like Uruguay. How racist surveillance of the public in South Africa has been used as training data for AI companies. How AI companies would not limit their use of drinking water even during Arizona's most severe drought in history. How this whole paragraph isn't even scratching the surface of what is evil about AI companies.

It's actually so much harder now to articulate my absolute hatred or to know how to approach these conversations.

EDIT: So far this year I've read, in order of quality/relevance:

Empire of AI by Karen Hao
More Everything Forever by Adam Becker
Enshittification by Cory Doctorow
More Than Words by John Warner
planning to read these next:

Data Empire by Roopika Risam; not sure how specifically AI-focused it will be
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
Pollution Is Colonialism

It's been important for me to learn about AI companies more deeply because I see a lot of AI critics ask questions that reveal that they don't really understand what's going on in basic ways, and that makes me nervous about whether we're all going to be able to organize against it.

Example: In response to an article about Sam Altman asking Congress to regulate AI, I saw a lot of comments like, "What, even HE doesn't think his own company can get its shit together?! He's that desperate for outside help?"

And that's not what's going on. Sam Altman talks to Congress because he's directing the conversation around AI concerns. He wants laws passed that make it harder for other companies, especially Chinese companies, to compete with OpenAI. He wants us all to be worried about theoretical future AI models triggering apocalyptic scifi scenarios because that kind of panic distracts us from tackling the problems that are actually happening now, like extreme surveillance, water shortages, destruction of land, and abuse of workers.

Anyway, even if you hate AI—especially if you hate AI—it's important to learn about what's happening.

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