Post by @Robinzz3@aus.social

I TESTED THE WATERS.
PEOPLE WERE KIND 💎

Over the past few days, I’ve been talking openly about something quite personal.

AI is not a novelty for me. It is an indispensable accessibility tool. Because I am paralysed and type with one hand, voice and AI help me turn my own thoughts into usable writing without exhausting myself.

I wasn’t entirely sure how people would react when I said that plainly. A few people were awful. But only a few.

THE OVERWHELMING RESPONSE WAS THOUGHTFUL AND KIND.

People understood that you can have serious concerns about AI and still treat the person using it with decency and dignity. People understood that accessibility matters. People understood that context matters.

And some people shared their own experiences of using AI to read inaccessible screens, instructions, packaging, or simply to remain more independent.

I found that unexpectedly moving.

WE HEAR SO MUCH ABOUT HOW TERRIBLE PEOPLE ARE ON THE INTERNET.

Yet when I actually tested the waters, most people behaved like decent human beings. They listened. They disagreed without attacking. They made room for another person’s circumstances.

THAT HAS LEFT ME FEELING TRULY GRATEFUL.

Not grateful that everyone agrees with me. They don’t. Grateful that disagreement has not erased kindness. Perhaps human beings are still rather better than the internet sometimes makes us believe.

@3goodthings
@DigitalCoup
@meditation
@economics_that_works
@startrek

#AI #Accessibility #Disability #Kindness #Fediverse #GRATEFUL #THOUGHTFUL #KIND

#thoughtful #kind #grateful #kindness #disability #accessibility #ai #fediverse

3 Replies

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Elena Brescacin

@elettrona@poliversity.it 2 hr. ago

@Robinzz3 @3goodthings @DigitalCoup @meditation @economics_that_works @startrek I'm blind and use AI as an accessibility aid; I think the essential is not to be guided by enthusiasm only, and not to let rage overload our minds. What fears me most about AI, it's biased outputs, so-called "allucinations", price increasing for every technology which then makes accessibility a sort of privilege for the richest. Are you blind/deaf/mobility impaired etc., and live in the poorest part of the world? You won't have access. Or for economic or for political reason. Does the government on your country decide that you have opposite ideas, or your sex orientation is disliked by the government? AI can become dangerous.
On the other side, however, I'm concerned of those people metaphorically comparing AI usage to murders, or similar. I send them to hell ASAP. Those don't deserve to debate with. We are both aware that this technology is not a phase, it's here to stay; so, we'd better start learning from it, to decide what and where it can be useful and where it's dangerous.

Robin Evans

@Robinzz3@aus.social 2 hr. ago

@elettrona @3goodthings @DigitalCoup @meditation @economics_that_works @startrek

Exactly, Elena. And you’ve added something important that I hadn’t considered enough: accessibility itself becoming a privilege. A technology that gives disabled people greater independence must not become something available only to those who can afford it or whose governments permit it. I think your approach is exactly right: neither blind enthusiasm nor blind hostility. Learn what this technology can do, understand where it can harm, and keep our discernment intact.

Elena Brescacin

@elettrona@poliversity.it 29 min. ago

@Robinzz3 @3goodthings @DigitalCoup @meditation @economics_that_works @startrek I feel one of those "privileged" as well: I have a job I like, I have an income, I can afford proper accessibility aids. Braille display and other stuff. But if I was in another condition, even in a more difficult economic condition? I couldn't afford anything and, if for Windows there's an open source quite good screen reading alternative, Linux has not sufficient accessibility accomodations. Same can be said for mobility impairments, deaf, and so on. We can't rely enough on State's help. I'm Italian and here it's quite good but we must wait for years, and having really what you need, is not guaranteed at all. America is becoming even worse, so... Let's use AI till we can afford it, but we have not to rely just on it.