This content originally appeared on dbushell.com (blog) and was authored by dbushell.com (blog)
I’ve been reading “Advising Reasonable AI Criticism” by Declan Chidlow.
From my perspective as a self-professed AI Luddite the far too reasonable points made by Chidlow don’t fit my anti-AI narrative. I’ve been forced to think and reflect. Which I don’t like doing this far into the week.
Many anti-AI proponents are proud to never touch AI systems and wear their ignorance of the current state of the technology as a badge of honour. Likewise, many AI evangelists refuse to acknowledge the flaws of AI models and view it uncritically without care for the flaws. From both sides, this is an embracing of anti-intellectualism. It isn’t cool to be misinformed.
Advising Reasonable AI Criticism by Declan Chidlow
I’d say Chidlow verges towards AI apologism in places but overall writes a rational piece. My key takeaway is to avoid hostility towards individuals†. I don’t believe I’ve ever crossed that line, except the time I attacked you for ruining the web.
† I reserve the right to “punch up” and call individuals like Sam Altman a grifter in clown’s garb.
Disclaimer
Before I continue I have to acknowledge that despite largely agreeing with Chidlow’s post I have no desire to engage in “reasonable AI criticism” myself. I have an agenda. I fully admit that I’m playing to a crowd. Blogging with titles like Slopaganda and Ensloppification is obviously antithetical to “respectful critique”.
The way I see it, one needs a balanced scale for reasonable discussion. It feels fruitless when Big Tech — Google, Open AI, Anthropic, et. al. — can just tip the scale and launch criticism into oblivion with billion dollars of marketing (slopaganda).
I have no respect for that.
No Thanks
I too am bored of it. Frankly, I’d rather quit my career than live in the future they’re selling. It’s the sheer dystopian drabness of it. Mediocrity as a service.
I’m extremely privileged to have a job that I enjoy. My work is creative. The challenges are rewarding. I don’t take that for granted. When I imagine “AI” in the mix it does not spark joy. I tried the tab-completion slot machines; not my cup of tea. I tried image generation and was overcome with literal depression. I don’t want a future as a “prompt artist”. I’d rather pack up my privilege and find something else.
So that’s where I stand right now.
I’m also not fond of how the sausage is made. You know, giant plagiarism machines? If that doesn’t bother you, you’re in just wonderful company. What’s the deal with Tony Blair and Nick Clegg crawling out of the woodwork? We have past and present UK government all champing at the bit to feed us to the machine. That’s not conspiracy, it’s happening in broad daylight.
That doesn’t sit right with me.
Deskilling
Salma Alam-Naylor speaks to me in “The promise that wasn’t kept”.
What’s becoming clear is that the mass adoption of AI is shifting the focus away from human-centred software solutions that provide meaningful value, and is reducing the entire industry to just the tools at its disposal. Just generate the code, bro. Just ship one more app, bro.
The promise that wasn’t kept by Salma Alam-Naylor
“AI” is pushing the deskilling of web dev to a tipping point. This movement leaves no career for me. Is it any wonder I’m an AI hater?
As Heather Buchel (great name) replies:
These tools are also not affording me time to write the fun parts of code. Nor are they enabling what I think is truly the driving force behind why I care about web accessibility: that accessibility is at the root of more creative and more-well-loved software and tooling, for everyone.
Re: broken promises by Heather Buchel
Skills in web accessibility are too important to lose yet worryingly fragile in the wake of Big Tech. The Figma Sites disasterclass has shown us it doesn’t even take direct “AI” integration to further the deskilling efforts.
Oh but don’t worry! Figma has “AI” too. The lesser reviled Figma Make was demoed live at the same conference. The product manager even boasts about engineering skills not being required.
The live demo failed.
Now remember that generation from earlier? Let’s take a look… okay, this time the model had a little bit of difficulty. But that’s ok…
Config 2025: Figma product launch keynote - Holly Li (transcribed by myself)
The ensloppification continues.
I wouldn’t be so insulted nor saddened if people just slowed down. Integrate the tech carefully? Wait for the tech to mature? That’s not how Big Tech works. One whiff of a dollar and the force-feeding begins. More than a few of you are embarassing yourselves with gluttony.
Bro, I’ve seen what you’re prompting. Our definitions of “quality” are so mutually exclusive I’m not convinced we’re from the same planet.
Ask for facts and “AI” gives you fiction. Apparently everyone is happy with that?
In its drive to embrace AI, Google is further concealing the raw material that fuels it, demoting links as it continues to ingest them for abstraction. Google may still retain plenty of attention to monetize and perhaps keep even more of it for itself, now that it doesn’t need to send people elsewhere; in the process, however, it really is starving the web that supplies it with data on which to train and from which to draw up-to-date details. (Or, one might say, putting it out of its misery.)
Google Is Burying the Web Alive by John Herrman
Words for word’s sake. Code for code’s sake. AI pollution is making the web a disgusting place to work. But I guess the idea is I won’t have to work for much longer, right? Soon I’ll deploy my “AI agents” to task whilst I kick back, sip a skinny frappuccino, and watch the world burn.
This content originally appeared on dbushell.com (blog) and was authored by dbushell.com (blog)
dbushell.com (blog) | Sciencx (2025-05-30T10:00:00+00:00) Ensloppification. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/05/30/ensloppification/
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