It is not possible to use AI and LLM tools without endangering the Julia community. I understand that the question is geared towards the online, programming community (such as this forum). But, let’s be real here for a minute because we all must live in the real world, with real consequences. It is …

Thanks for your original post @mihalybaci ; I stand by you and fully share your concerns. There are also the ethical considerations of how these tools came to be, including dubious lacks of attribution and other shady practices that optimize performance. There are also ethical considerations regardi…

This blog post also corroborate the figure of heavy, yearly agentic use being roughly equal to one flight. From my estimate it’s also in the same ballpark as eating beef regularly. That’s not to say we shouldn’t have restricted all these things like 30 years ago, but I think it shows it’s not an iss…

[image] langestefan: it happens because we have capitalism. The world we live in is not as simple as many believe. I’m not sure in what far e.g. China can be considered capitalistic. The developments there may be driven by private companies, but the strategy is defined by the communistic gov…

[image] Datseris: Not everything in this world should revolve around MORE-MORE-MORE Agreed. But if there was one thing which I’d like to pour the gasoline onto, it would be the pace of scientific research. If agentic coding could be used to accelerate our understanding of the world, our abili…

[image] mihalybaci: not relevant to the discussion at hand. I disagree, since we’ve been comparing the size of various impacts. I feel it’s quite relevant to point out that there are other optional activities which people engage in that are many orders of magnitude more damaging. Plus even th…

[image] mihalybaci: This is false. Going back to your idea of regulation, there was a time when the most productive companies forced people to work 12-14 hours a day. Eventually people protested and got fair labor laws passed. There was a time in America when the most productive coal mines also …

[image] langestefan: In many poorer countries people still have to work 12 hour days, because they lack productivity Is that what it is? Or is it because they’re being exploited by a market system designed to do so? There have been studies of indigenous foraging tribes in which labor require…

[image] kahliburke: [image] langestefan: Is that what it is? Or is it because they’re being exploited by a market system designed to do so? Yes low productivity is the core of the problem. It shows up everywhere: How Do Hours Worked Vary with Income? Cross-Country Evidence and Implicatio…

[image] langestefan: Yes low productivity is the core of the problem. I disagree, I think over-exploitation is the core, not productivity. The paper you cite shows this. It finds that in the richest countries, more highly paid workers work as much or more hours as wages increase, not fewer. I…

[image] kahliburke: It finds that in the richest countries, more highly paid workers work as much or more hours as wages increase, not fewer. From the paper: We document that, on average, adults in the developing world work about 50 percent more hours per week than adults in rich countries.…

The climate impacts and ethical considerations of AI use

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mbauman August 18, 2026, 4:18pm 39

Um, my analogy here was specifically about climate impacts and environmental externalities.

I similarly don’t think garage door openers are a good analog overall, either.

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The climate impacts and ethical considerations of AI use

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