2026-05-19T13:48:37Z https://yabu.me Jax UK https://yabu.me/npub1rpknuqfqy7f2ptv5yfqeykt5c8qqdu2vl0jgg340qgc4r3jqxngq2nh2pr https://cdn2.miau.pub/accounts/avatars/110/371/252/224/677/982/original/dbeaa5be7166c49d.jpg https://cdn2.miau.pub/accounts/avatars/110/371/252/224/677/982/original/dbeaa5be7166c49d.jpg https://yabu.me/nevent1qqswyp2s8dh6m5tltzae2nw8pvawdvhg7rw93gs8wm5rwxp09y8xjsgzyqvx60spyqne9g9djs3yryjewnquqph3fna7fpzx4uprz5wxgq6dqt5cvyq In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqs8h6dnums76ad8qxw6wyvqedsa7t5mplecj56z2f4fp53ekxukgssk7x9pm'>nevent1q…x9pm</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>I&#39;m sorry I only just saw your lovely comment, thank you 😊 2026-05-22T20:56:39Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqspkhc6syv8tp6p2jwr3cegck3x63m0wugpf9h3wfap6j7k4eqgerqzyqvx60spyqne9g9djs3yryjewnquqph3fna7fpzx4uprz5wxgq6dqrdrewk So this is a mini essay I wrote for my employers, to explain why I refuse to use AI tools at work. They have recently been pushing it and I wanted to make my position crystal clear and attempt to open up discussions. I&#39;m not in a management position so don&#39;t have any voice when it comes to decision making. I also struggle to express myself verbally and miss out context. <br/><br/>I initially sent it to my manager on Tuesday. She then had a meeting with her manager and brought it up, and he suggested I send it to him and 2 members of the extended leadership team above him, who are directly below the CEO.<br/><br/>My managers managers response was very positive, he messaged me to say it was very powerful and he wanted to take the weekend to process.<br/><br/>Anyway it&#39;s not my best writing but here it is.<br/><br/>#aislop #copilot #antiai #ai<br/><br/>Why I refuse to use AI tools such as Co-pilot, ChatGPT, Claude etc.<br/>Written by human hands and mind – Jax Ven****<br/><br/>As *** leaders increase their push for employees to use AI tools, I would like to lay out the reasons why I refuse to do so. I feel the need to do this in order to show that I am not acting out of a fear of new technology, but as someone who understands technological progression and has been interested in this field for decades, studying virtual reality and AI at university 15 years ago and following the industry closely since. I also hope that this may convince you to pause and reflect, and commit to allowing every employee to choose for themselves if they wish to use AI tools, without being penalised or left behind should we choose not to.<br/><br/>I have always been very optimistic about what AI could bring us and how it could benefit our lives not just in the workplace, but also at home and for society in general. However, to borrow a phrase used often in online tech circles, ‘this is not the AI we were promised’.<br/><br/>Instead we have AI that is unreliable at best, and risking our lives and our environment at worst.<br/><br/>The environmental impact of data centres is huge. A recent report by the IEA (International Energy Agency) found that data centre energy usage had surged during 2025 and was set to continue.<br/><br/>“According to the report – Key Questions on Energy and AI – power consumption per AI task is declining rapidly, with efficiency improving at a rate unprecedented in energy history. However, more people are using AI, and energy-intensive uses – such as AI agents – are on the rise. As a result, electricity consumption from data centres is set to double by 2030, and power use from those focused on AI is poised to triple.”<br/><br/><a href="https://www.iea.org/news/data-centre-electricity-use-surged-in-2025-even-with-tightening-bottlenecks-driving-a-scramble-for-solutions">https://www.iea.org/news/data-centre-electricity-use-surged-in-2025-even-with-tightening-bottlenecks-driving-a-scramble-for-solutions</a><br/><br/>The IEA article goes on to speculate that AI may drive the creation and large-scale adoption of greener tech, but we are not there yet and the current state of play is dangerous and damaging to our environment right now, regardless of future potential. Future potential does not cancel out current harm.<br/><br/>I do not wish to contribute to this.<br/><br/>In addition to the environmental impact the creation of new data centres is having a detrimental effect on neighbouring communities with the blatant disregard for them. For example, residents of a town in Michigan voted overwhelmingly to not have a 21 Million square feet data centre built close to their town, with the town commission also voting in favour to reject due to the impact it would have on the local environment, electricity demand and increased traffic. Related Digital (OpenAI, Stargate Initiative) successfully sued the town and are going ahead anyway.<br/><br/><a href="https://fortune.com/2026/05/06/ai-data-center-michigan-saline-politics-farmland/">https://fortune.com/2026/05/06/ai-data-center-michigan-saline-politics-farmland/</a><br/><br/>These data centres are costing billions and billions. The people paying for them are well aware that they have enough money to be able to do whatever the hell they like while making promises of increased opportunities and future green tech. All while they risk destroying the communities surrounding them.<br/><br/>I do not wish to contribute to this.<br/><br/>AI is now being used in war. The same companies that are used to summarise emails or generate a slide deck are being used in cyber defence.<br/><br/>“WASHINGTON — On April 27, the Army convened 14 senior cybersecurity executives from leading technology companies at the Pentagon for the second iteration of its artificial intelligence tabletop exercise, an effort designed to accelerate adoption of agentic AI for cyber defense.<br/>The exercise, known as AI TTX 2.0, brought together C-suite leaders from companies including Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks and others alongside Army and Department of War leadership. The Office of the Principal Cyber Advisor hosted the half-day event, with design and moderation support from the Special Competitive Studies Project, and partnering organizations including U.S. Cyber Command, U.S. Army Cyber Command and the Army Cyber Institute at West Point.”<br/><a href="https://www.army.mil/article/292158/army_convenes_industry_leaders_for_ai_tabletop_exercise_focused_on_cyber_defense">https://www.army.mil/article/292158/army_convenes_industry_leaders_for_ai_tabletop_exercise_focused_on_cyber_defense</a><br/><br/>I do not wish to contribute to this.<br/><br/>The effect of regular use of AI tools on cognitive function is still being studied but so far the results are extremely concerning. I enjoy using the skills I’ve developed over the last 30 years. I enjoy figuring things out and learning new things. I enjoy putting my thoughts into words with my own voice. These are the things that motivate me.<br/><br/>I thoroughly believe that the more we rely on AI tools, the easier it will become to offload simple tasks to these tools and the temptation to have them do as much of our workload as possible is too great, especially when we are being told to use AI tools to increase our productivity. <br/><br/>“A new MIT study titled, Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task, has found that using ChatGPT to help write essays leads to long-term cognitive harm—measurable through EEG brain scans. Students who repeatedly relied on ChatGPT showed weakened neural connectivity, impaired memory recall, and diminished sense of ownership over their own writing. While the AI-gener”ated content often scored well, the brains behind it were shutting down. <br/><br/><a href="https://publichealthpolicyjournal.com/mit-study-finds-artificial-intelligence-use-reprograms-the-brain-leading-to-cognitive-decline/">https://publichealthpolicyjournal.com/mit-study-finds-artificial-intelligence-use-reprograms-the-brain-leading-to-cognitive-decline/</a><br/><br/>I do not wish to be a victim of this.<br/><br/>Things I am also concerned about but have not written about here in great detail (or this would be 20 pages long) are;<br/><br/>‘Enshittification’ of the internet: can no longer trust search results, or that academic papers, news reports, images, videos and music are not AI created.<br/><br/>Security Risks; apps and software being developed by ‘vibe coding’ are being found to contain serious security flaws that would enable hackers to obtain sensitive customer and company data. Who is checking vibe coders code?<br/><br/><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jodiecook/2026/03/20/vibe-coding-has-a-massive-security-problem/">https://www.forbes.com/sites/jodiecook/2026/03/20/vibe-coding-has-a-massive-security-problem/</a><br/><br/>AI is a technology that I would love to be using, and it should be a natural progression of my career. I should relish digging in and getting to know how everything works, being creative and finding new ways to use it. That’s who I am. I would fully embrace it and advocate for it. But not in it’s current format, with it’s current harms, and it’s current masters. The likes of Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Jensen Huang are billionaires who do not live in the same reality as the rest of us, and do not have our best interests at heart. The AI models these people are enabling are not the AI we were promised. For all of the reasons outlined above I cannot in good conscience contribute by becoming a user. This is at the core of my ethics and my beliefs, and it would devastate me to be forced to take part. This may seem dramatic but I am just one of many, many people worldwide who are also refusing to take part and that number is growing day by day. I guess we are ‘conscientious objectors’.<br/><br/>It’s not just about an individuals personal use. One could argue that the amount of energy one person uses or their monetary contribution to AI companies from simple day to day workplace tasks is not great enough to be an issue. However, it is about collective use and about ethical standpoints. Do we, as a company with a mission to help people embrace greener technology, really want to contribute to all of these things? Sometimes the only power we have is to choose where our money goes. It’s something I do as an individual consumer and something that companies can do on a grander scale to take a stand and be on the right side. Yes, I understand the need to increase productivity and remain competitive but we were already on the right track before the push to use AI tools. I also believe it is a mistake to rely on them too much as subscription costs are set to soar and the ‘AI Bubble’ predictions are looking more and more likely. I think it’s far better to pause or greatly limit use, allow employees to decide they don’t wish to use it at all, and see what the state of play is in a year or two. ‘Fear of Missing Out’ is a very real phenomena that I sadly see playing out here.<br/><br/>I guarantee I am not the only one at *** who feels this way, but with the job market as it is right now (thanks to AI) it can be very risky to speak out. I know people in other companies who are being forced to use AI tools or risk losing their jobs and I would like to think that we are better than that at ***, but this still feels risky. However I cannot stay silent any more and need to make my position, and my reasoning for this position crystal clear and hope that everything I have outlined can be given serious thought.<br/><br/>Thank you for reading and I look forward to discussing this in more detail should you wish. 2026-05-15T21:01:09Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs9e0qgxt3u48w58npv3h6fvm9c58ycl9g2rruruwu63wgdhzh77ggzyqvx60spyqne9g9djs3yryjewnquqph3fna7fpzx4uprz5wxgq6dqzmfwzm &#39;Get on board or get left behind&#39; can mean that if you refuse to use generative AI and/or LLM&#39;s to speed up your work, you will soon be working at a snails pace compared to your AI shagging colleagues. Deadlines will become tighter, time on task will be scrutinised and criticised, and your workload will increase. <br/><br/>I&#39;m discovering this in my current role. <br/><br/>Taking 20 minutes (yep, just 20 minutes) to figure out an excel formula that wasn&#39;t working as intended has become the rallying cry of my (otherwise awesome) manager to try and convince me I should have just asked co-pilot initially. Now I have been given extra finance tasks (not in my job description) and tighter KPI&#39;s for daily tasks.<br/><br/>I will not be using #copilot or fucking #claude or #chatgpt or any of the other bullshit AI tools my employers are currently orgasming over.<br/><br/>They can try and discipline me, or even fire me. I look forward to how a company that is supposed to be ethical and green is going to argue it at the tribunal. 2026-05-08T22:07:26Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsfg25rtnjn425yp4n5g587dmjg5c9h8007zuhtcz5nsya5safdhegzyqvx60spyqne9g9djs3yryjewnquqph3fna7fpzx4uprz5wxgq6dqskv9ms 2 days post surgery and I was RIGHT. I&#39;ve been off painkillers for 24 hours now and no back pain. None whatsoever. No constant dull ache when stationary, no grinding feeling when moving, no chronic, back gonna split in two, cant take another step pain when walking. Once surgery wounds have healed enough I bet i&#39;ll be able to touch my toes, get on the cross trainer for more than 5 minutes, and eventually get back to being fit and healthy.<br/><br/>That melon sized ovarian cyst WAS causing pressure on my lower spine and the proof is that the pressure and the pain has gone, whatever the gaslighting doctors tole me for 5 years before discovering it lurking there.<br/><br/>A reckoning is coming!!!<br/><br/>Had both ovaries removed and feeling great hormonally, so thats good too, though i&#39;m well aware this may be a temporary high until my body starts demanding more hormones. 20 months post menopause so not expecting a massive shift though.<br/><br/>All in all feeling better than ive felt in years 😍 2026-03-21T08:13:39Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsfhjjly6kyr2ntvflzm9xphes0a8v4jlc7kqh37cnjlthgkdcxgvszyqvx60spyqne9g9djs3yryjewnquqph3fna7fpzx4uprz5wxgq6dqa2yt9s For #internationalwomensday at work, me and a few other women have been tasked with recording a max 10 second video saying &#39;when I gave.......I gained&#39;<br/><br/>Yes it&#39;s so transactional I know 😬<br/><br/>I want to say something along the lines of &#39;when I gave myself permission to stop editing myself for the comfort of mens egos, I gained a reputation as blunt and aggressive among those who don&#39;t matter, which I don&#39;t give a shit about, but I also gained self respect and confidence to say what needs to be said&#39;<br/><br/>But, I know from experience that will be deemed too negative or controversial and not used.<br/><br/>So mastadon hive mind, help me out please cos I&#39;m not using chatGpt 😁<br/><br/>How can I word this better?<br/><br/>Thank you 😊 <br/><br/>#feminism #advice #hivemind 2026-02-27T21:31:04Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs0k9fxngsvthz4l540zvfy4d96cna6md3raq92zmaau5k0edkh2pczyqvx60spyqne9g9djs3yryjewnquqph3fna7fpzx4uprz5wxgq6dqxardhl In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqspluh7lusj7z6dqecw8n40w8ze8wawmdez29v2a02cpm2xygw6wegfr0hgv'>nevent1q…0hgv</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>Yes - my account was disabled for &#39;suspicious activity&#39; when there was none, and cant re-activate without doing a video selfie. I&#39;ve had 2 colleagues say the same happened to them recently. 2026-02-21T11:27:27Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsdcjw0683zt0s83fhyr5rc5hptemkhelqrk920xawc89hy0f7lf0gzyqvx60spyqne9g9djs3yryjewnquqph3fna7fpzx4uprz5wxgq6dquwxff5 Far too many people, myself included, relied on #facebook for #community <br/><br/>Now this roll out of disabling accounts and asking for video selfies to prove identity are going to leave a lot of those people in a quandary. Submit a selfie or lose connection to community. <br/><br/>I refuse, and i&#39;m not sad about no longer being able to access facebook because I am done with the trolls and bots. But I am devastated that i&#39;ve instantly lost connection to local groups and old friends with whom I never exchanged numbers, because we relied on facebook.<br/><br/>I dont know how to build community without it.<br/><br/>I mean I know i&#39;ll get over it, i&#39;ll find other ways of connecting and i&#39;m sure I can ask my eldest daughter to message old friends with my number for me, but right now this feels incredibly cruel and intentional. Meta know that people will panic about losing their communities and connections and upload those video selfies. 2026-02-21T09:02:55Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsw9rxhhc0yxj88k7aqky6n68y4um0s98s073an0ud4xhg0x9eek0qzyqvx60spyqne9g9djs3yryjewnquqph3fna7fpzx4uprz5wxgq6dqaxswy3 I’ve been around long enough to see this #antivax thing play out from the start (in the uk anyway).<br/><br/>Wakefield stated in the late 90’s that the MMR vaccine could be linked to neurological and bowel disorders. His research was flawed and was never able to be replicated. Nonetheless, the daily mail ran with it and started the media frenzy.<br/><br/>Suddenly, thanks to the fucking daily mail (and yes Wakefield initially but I wonder if his ‘research’ would have gone unnoticed by the general public if not for the right wing rag) we saw a massive decline in MMR uptake and who knows how many childhood deaths as a result.<br/><br/>10 years ago I worked in a disabled children’s team (social services) as admin. We dealt with a lot of autistic children who were non-verbal and needed a lot of round the clock care. Most of the social workers in the team were of the opinion that these kids were fine till they had the MMR. They didn’t even meet these kids pre-diagnosis so how the fuck would they know?<br/><br/>Then we had COVID, and the mistrust and paranoia was already so baked in. How many people died because Joe Bloggs decided to still go about their business despite having symptoms?<br/><br/>I blame right wing media rags. Bastards.<br/><br/>Thank you for coming to my drunk and tired talk. 2025-11-21T23:59:51Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs2wnnts5el3g7nul2n3h7zng3pdrf8n3xru6etud4y0h2hsnsgjsqzyqvx60spyqne9g9djs3yryjewnquqph3fna7fpzx4uprz5wxgq6dq944nhl #men DO NOT STARE AT YOUNG GIRLS.<br/><br/>Had my 15 year old daughter in tears for last hour because she had a man on bus staring at her for a solid 10 minutes and she felt scared, humiliated, frozen, PHYSICALLY SICK. <br/><br/>&#39;first time man stared at me so creepily I felt physically sick&#39; is NOT a milestone ANY girl shoudl have to go through.<br/><br/>FUCKING STOP IT. 2025-09-01T22:04:10Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs9k8nkkvgtaf42atjkwknp0lj64wxtsqz3t395rczy6d35hmds9cgzyqvx60spyqne9g9djs3yryjewnquqph3fna7fpzx4uprz5wxgq6dqcewevf When this happens its a no on both counts. I&#39;ll find the content elsewhere thanks!!<br/><br/>#DataPrivacy<br/> <img src="https://cdn2.miau.pub/media_attachments/files/114/913/877/419/706/171/original/72587db0a6f2b327.png"> <br/> 2025-07-25T12:31:58Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsz6t83qsuqrh0qjwuvl25wmdur2lak03nm2srgzlnrguagc2xhdrszyqvx60spyqne9g9djs3yryjewnquqph3fna7fpzx4uprz5wxgq6dqtnu9r5 So I finally...FINALLY...after 15 years of trying, have a referral to rhuematology. After an honest and lengthy conversation with a wonderful GP, who is not my usual GP and i&#39;ve not spoken to before, she suspects I have fibromyalgia. Which is apparantly a form of rhuematoid arthritus (I didnt know that) and the main symptom is aches and stiffness that are usually felt as just that - aches and stiffness - are interpreted as pain instead. There was a lightbulb moment when she told me this. Like, for the last 15 years this is exactly what has been happening, but also my lower back pain has gotten worse as i&#39;ve gotten less active due to the all over pain. And the exhaustion is also a tell tale sign. Not just a bit tired but would fall asleep standing up if I allowed myself to close my eyes for 5 seconds. All over, body and mind, sucking me into the void exhaustion. ALL.THE.TIME. <br/><br/>If I can finally get a diagnosis it means i&#39;m not lazy (as the gp&#39;s always told me before) and I might even get a bit of support in the form of a council move to somewhere with no stairs, maybe a bit of PIP to pay for a home help (I work from home) and my kids might start to take my symptoms seriously.<br/><br/>I need this, like really really need this.<br/><br/>#fibromyalgia #RheumatoidArthritis 2025-07-10T09:07:51Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsxewg3s47u7ct4afh3r0svttwr75jg4y78uethwexp7w6t8cd7q6czyqvx60spyqne9g9djs3yryjewnquqph3fna7fpzx4uprz5wxgq6dqzaz394 I mean I guess us Brits should start celebrating 4th July a bit more now?<br/><br/>#4thofjuly #independenceday 2025-07-04T21:48:43Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsqw62cz3gadjrtua42qskqwdc7zjgwjct0swp3sll9fk5xpj2et9szyqvx60spyqne9g9djs3yryjewnquqph3fna7fpzx4uprz5wxgq6dqfg0j5f I’m a 50 year old woman, but it doesn’t seem that long ago I was a very pretty teen girl becoming aware of the looks from older men.<br/><br/>Men looked at me until well into my 40’s, until I became invisible to them. I’m so glad I did! This isn’t about that.<br/><br/>Lately I’ve noticed men looking again. I don’t like it and never wanted it. I noticed because we do. Then I realised, they are not looking at me but my 14 year old daughter beside me. <br/><br/>I want to gouge out their eyes. 2025-05-17T20:33:25Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsq93lu8sctprfezh8tlhx9j0ruupswkcunjrjnq5d9e3cvce0e9egzyqvx60spyqne9g9djs3yryjewnquqph3fna7fpzx4uprz5wxgq6dqwv0hah So, is it ok to talk about how us ND folk seem less susceptible to propaganda, and more likely to not conform to societal expectations, and how that makes us a threat to those who want to maintain the status quo? <br/><br/>#actuallyautistic 2025-04-27T21:07:12Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs24qsc2zykgmc0wwfjzxuanzv75scyrsx06583sl4w87ypf5kmenqzyqvx60spyqne9g9djs3yryjewnquqph3fna7fpzx4uprz5wxgq6dqgpwmys In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqs9ycsd4a836gjx3u3umny5s3w5kkppjqrj84y224suyrppmya3n2s8z2sum'>nevent1q…2sum</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>It’s my super power too….i spent my 20’s singing in rock/punk cover bands and never forgot a single lyric, and will sing along to just about every song that plays on car radio or as soundtrack when watching TV. I only need to hear a song once or twice and will recall all lyrics even if not heard again for years. <br/><br/>It’s sadly not something that applies to anything else other than lyrics and I have no idea why 😂 2024-08-11T05:40:53Z