Say Yes - Do No

A site for AI resistance tactics, reclaiming agency and organising for better technology.

“They all say ‘yes’, but they do ‘no’. That has to be it. There’s no other way to explain these figures. If they would do ‘yes’, the figures would have improved by now. [sigh] It would be easier if they would just say ‘no’. Then you could have a conversation about it [staring blankly].” 

(Anon.)

Human Data Sensors - The Abyss is Looking Back

It's an increasingly less heard argument (in my experience at least) that AI companies would eventually run out of training data and, with the ever degrading quality of synthetic data, some kind of brick wall of development would be hit. It was never a good argument, relying as it did on domain specific imaginations...
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Call for Papers: Topical Collection on AI Resistance, Refusal, Reclamation and Reimagining: Ethical Imperatives and Emerging Practices

Happy to be involved in this one given the potentials to get anti and AI critical voices involved. The deadline for submissions is the 31st of July and we're looking for a broad range of voices and part of that is the potential for guest editors to provide support with your work if accepted. We made this choice out of...
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Tech Bros Stole My Friend: Faux-Social LLMs Meet the Market

Sometimes even I, as an ardent Luddite, wish AI companies would be slower in driving their own failure. Recently I've been working on a paper relating to faux-social LLMs - those which mimic relationships, therapy, care etc. In part of the paper I suggest viewing those 'relationships' built with LLMs as toxic or...
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Old Tactics, Neo-Luddites: We're all the problem now...

This article from Wired is well worth a read as it outlines the increasing attempts in the US to problematise and criminalise AI resistance movements. Amongst the Trump administrations fevered politicisation of the intelligence services tech resistance is, seemingly, getting the full Luddite treatment with even...
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Monday AI Resistance Update #10

A random sampling of stuff I've come across this week... A day late this time because we had a Bank Holiday here alongside a heatwave, so who wants to be thinking about AI? -- Resource - The AI Resist List Created by We & AI, DAIR, the Refugee Law Lab and working with Karen Hao the AI Resist List is something I've...
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Reclaiming Futures - King's College London

A bit of a niche one given that it's based specifically out of KCL but there's a new (unofficial) group working there to challenge the uncritical narratives around AI in Higher Education. Reclaiming Futures is focusing specifically at King's for now but hopefully there'll be scope for crossover with other institutions,...
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The AI Resist List

Created by We & AI, DAIR, the Refugee Law Lab and working with Karen Hao the AI Resist List is a major new effort to create a database of AI critical movements from around the world. It’s a great resource for exploring what’s going on and seeking spaces for collaboration and inspiration. I was also vaguely involved,...
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Monday AI Resistance Update #9

A random sampling of stuff I've come across this week... -- Article - A Lo-Fi Rebellion Against A.I. I don't think there's anything revelatory in this, artists have for a while now been valorising their own human jankiness as a counter to the hyper-realist sheen of GAI outputs but the commercialisation of it suggested...
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Exposure Therapy - AI Resistance Inspired by AI Hype

Between the two distant poles of thought on Artificial Intelligence - those of abolitionism and blind enthusiasm - there lays an infinite and fertile ground for eclectic resistance. In my own views I sit closer to abolition than anything, as looking at AI is more or less my day job I never struggle to find new...
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Thought - Post-Bubble Accounting

I do think the AI financial bubble will ultimately burst but it's an increasingly hard one to have great faith in as a motive force for change around the technologies involved. Seems like so many of our governments have so completely committed themselves to the ethical abyss of miraculous AI growth that even when it...
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Monday(ish) AI Resistance Update #8

A random sampling of stuff I've come across this week... -- The kids are alright... A rare feel good moment out of Florida which is doing the rounds to start with as the young ones over at the University Of Central Florida give a heartfelt reaction to the 'revolutionary' nature of AI... Article - Starmer adviser held 16...
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Monday AI Resistance Update #7

A random sampling of stuff I've come across this week... Article - The people building AI think it might be conscious. That’s not the most alarming part A nice contrast in this between the usual fantasies of AI fanatics/profiteers and some blunt cynicism from the redoubtable Emily Bender. Interesting to see the former...
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Data Centres & Class

Having just read this article by Holly Buck I'm immediately trying not to be too scornful. The gist of it is that resistance to data centre construction is a: a privileged, NIMBY past time and b: a middle class (in the UK sense) limitation of access to AI 'tools' that they can afford but which they deny the working...
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SayYesDoNo - BlueSky

I have created a BlueSky account for this site, perhaps the least exciting way I could add it to social media... Anyway, feel free to follow if you like, will try to use it (semi) regularly for sharing things as well as the usual posts here. - Dylan
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Monday Resistance Update #6

A random sampling of stuff I've come across this week... Article - Analysis Finds That Google’s AI Overviews Are Providing Misinformation at a Scale Possibly Unprecedented in the History of Human Civilization The internet, having killed off the fine old tradition of 'a bloke in the pub reckons...' has finally come full...
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