Can a dumb phone save us from AI?
Apple's partnership with OpenAI poses an existential dilemma. Enter Light Phone 3.
Last year, I sort of lost my mind over generative AI. I was writing about it a lot. Too much? And by year’s end, I pledged to back away from writing about the topic.
I reasoned that if I didn’t engage with the tech, if I didn’t feed the beast, I could sleep at night. But recently, it seems increasingly difficult to opt-out. No matter what I do, I’m feeding someone’s large language model, whether it’s Google, Meta, or Microsoft.
In early June, Apple announced it was partnering with OpenAI. And it sent me spiraling again.
It was a bold move from Apple, considering how bullish they’ve been about using the word “AI.” Last year, Tim Cook took great pains to use the phrase “machine learning” during presentations.
But, Wallstreet gonna Wallstreet, and here we are.
Apple represents an aesthetic ideal for many artists. Hell, I'm old enough to remember the days when the company actively courted us! And sure, they've made mistakes in the past. I was able to deal with the dumb "touch bar," the dongles, Final Cut X. But this pivot to generative AI feels...different.
So, where does this leave me and the growing number of others who are allergic to AI? How do we opt-out anymore, especially when Tech leaders like Microsoft’s CEO Mustafa Suleyman admit they view all our work as “free” to scrape?
As if on cue, the Light Phone 3 was announced the day after Apple’s reveal.
My hand-wringing to go minimal is well documented here and here. And I’ll admit, for years, switching to a dumb phone felt like an idle threat. But now, the decision feels elemental. Necessary. The only way to escape AI, algorithms, and doom-scrolling brain rot.
Tech companies want us to believe that AI adoption is inevitable. They’re moving so fast, draining resources in an unsustainable way, all because they want to outrun the courts and public opinion. It’s sweaty and desperate. A move made by folks who’ve bet the house on this tech.
But just because Silicon Valley has made this colossal gamble doesn’t mean we have to get into the casino, too. There are still ways of opting out, but it involves rethinking our lives.
After several weeks of contemplation, I pre-ordered the Light Phone 3.
I know that having a dumbphone will be challenging, and I’ll have to find workarounds for certain shortcomings. But at this point, what is the alternative?
Our smartphones have become increasingly toxic, robbing us of so much of our time. And now they want all our data, all our work. They’ve come for our soul.
I'm out.
Just bought a Light Phone 2 for very similar reasons. I was an early adopter when I was a kid. Anything tech got me going. I saved up coupons for a portable colour tv which only seemed to pick up the news. I saved up all the coins I could for an amiga cd32 because the advert said 'cutting edge technology', they didn't mention that the games were shit. I bought an iPhone as soon as I could afford it, before other people had iPhones. And the day it fell out my pocket into the sea was a great day. What a weight. I felt lighter than before. Relieved. And for years during the smart phone boom I stayed well away. That is until I missed out on some crucial illustration jobs because I couldn't access my email quickly enough. That's the only reason I bought a smart phone again. Point is, I am a reluctant user of this technology and I somewhat resent how it uses me. It was supposed to be a tool to help me and now it feels like I am the tool. A light phone 2 feels like the right thing to do. It does very little. And that is a good thing. But strangely, it feels like an exciting piece of tech. I feel like I did when I was a kid saving up for a Nintendo. And I was not disappointed with the Nintendo.
Well, I hate to say it, but AI is here to stay! I would say that given all the investigation that I have done. I do think that there are some posable threats to some jobs in the industry. I have been told to myself that my job would be on the line. Maybe so, but as far as defense of this threat it with Education and Understanding may be in order. Also, some ground rules for application are in order here as well.
We have, what is arguably, one of the most powerful union body (IATSE) to rise and speak their mind on this matter and unlike SAG-AFTRA and The Witters Gild, this body has the most to gain or lose from how AI is applied!
However, we got to keep this in mind, that much of what we worry about is based on what AI could be over what it now! I know as a person that dabbles in the imagination that it is easy to lose focus of facts over perception! We could be thinking all this evil AI stuff can take over only to be side swiped by something more menacing that will disrupts or craft or way of life. I think that we have to be vigilant but also understanding of the new Tecnologies out there beyond raw fear.
As a code geek myself! I can see how all this makes for good discourse and drama. My Dad was a Nuclear Engineer that invented the process of making the fuel pellets. As a child, I grew up both fearing and respecting the Atom from a personal preceptive. We now may have the rise of the AI machine to worry about! Let's hope that we treat it with the respect of the atom - maybe with more!
As one collage suggested: Are we ready to be a GOD? Or is AI just a fancier Calculator?
To paraphrase I Robot: When does a personally simulation becomes the bitter moat of the AI Soul?