AI haters are being performative (mostly)
A huge portion of people suddenly pretending to care about environmental destruction only started caring because the effects are now visible on American soil and connected to industries they personally interact with. For decades, we outsourced pollution, exploited labor, destroyed ecosystems overseas, and consumed products made through insanely destructive systems without a fraction of this outrage. Fast fashion, crypto mining, massive shipping industries, industrial agriculture, oil drilling, disposable consumer culture, endless Amazon deliveries, all of it existed right in front of everyone. Most people didn’t suddenly become environmental activists over lithium mines or rivers being poisoned in countries they couldn’t point to on a map. But now AI data centers are being built in the U.S. and suddenly everybody becomes an expert on water usage.
My biggest gripe is that celebrity outrage is painfully transparent too. Of course actors, influencers, commercial artists, and public figures are panicking. AI directly threatens one of the most overinflated labor markets on earth: being paid obscene amounts of money for likeness, branding, voice work, sponsorships, and advertising. A company that once needed a celebrity endorsement, a massive production team, photographers, editors, and ad agencies can now create something passable for a fraction of the cost. That doesn’t mean every artist is evil for being concerned, but let’s stop pretending all of this outrage is purely moral and altruistic. A lot of people are terrified because they see their economic leverage disappearing.
People throw around sensationalized statistics with absolutely zero context. “This prompt used X bottles of water.” “This data center consumes millions of gallons.” Okay? Compared to what? Compared to total industrial water usage in the state? Compared to agriculture? Compared to golf courses? Compared to manufacturing? Compared to the insane amount of water wasted by meat production? Nobody actually wants to sit down and compare numbers honestly because outrage travels faster than nuance. They repeat scary statistics they saw in a TikTok slideshow without understanding how cooling systems, regional water cycles, or infrastructure work.
Another thing people refuse to acknowledge is that technology becomes more efficient over time. Early cars were inefficient as hell. Early computers were massive energy hogs. Early solar panels sucked. The first versions of almost every transformative technology are clunky and resource-heavy. Optimization happens because demand creates incentives to improve efficiency. AI models today are already more efficient than models from only a few years ago. That trend is going to continue whether people scream online or not.
Where was all this political energy when regulation actually mattered? Most people weren’t organizing around meaningful AI policy during elections. They weren’t demanding infrastructure planning, labor protections, energy investment, or environmental standards before the explosion happened. Now the technology is already embedded into the economy and suddenly everyone wants to act morally superior for posting anti-AI infographics. That’s not activism. That’s reactionary guilt posting after the fact.
ALSO people ignore the average worker. AI isn’t just helping giant corporations. It’s helping exhausted normal people. The single mother working two jobs who uses AI to draft emails faster. The overwhelmed student who can finally understand math concepts explained in plain English. The small business owner who can make marketing materials without hiring a full agency. The office worker automating repetitive tasks so they can breathe for five seconds during the day. People talk about using AI like it’s some moral failing while ignoring how many ordinary people are using it to survive a system that already burned them out long before AI existed.
I'm not saying AI has no risks. It absolutely does. Labor displacement is real. Misinformation is real. Environmental concerns are real. Corporate monopolization is real. But the conversation is flooded with shallow outrage from people who only started caring when the disruption became personal, local, and economically threatening to people they admire.
As a vegetarian whose been anti-temu, anti-republican, ans anti-war, I feel like people are being to harsh on the end consumer. We should never blame individuals for their harmful habits because we all participate somehow.