{"id":6601,"date":"2026-03-03T22:37:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:37:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qualityremarks.com\/?p=6601"},"modified":"2026-03-04T09:05:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T09:05:32","slug":"unethical-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qualityremarks.com\/unethical-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"(Un)Ethical AI"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019ve worked in tech long enough to know that every time something is sold as \u201cnew\u201d it\u2019s typically an old idea repackaged as \u201crevolutionary\u201d, and that the marketing is probably better than the actual thing.

\u201cEthical AI\u201d seems to be just another verse in the same song that\u2019s been getting worse year after year.

To be perfectly clear: there is no such thing as ethical AI.

\u201cAI\u201d as it is currently sold is built on intellectual property scraped from millions of people who were never asked, credited, and certainly not compensated for their contributions.

And we in the tech industry are pretending this is fine because acknowledging the truth would force us to confront the damage.

Every one of us must decide what our involvement says about us.

Do we use the tools because they\u2019re convenient? Do we build them because the jobs pay well? Do we turn a blind eye because we don\u2019t see an alternative?

It\u2019s too easy to put distance between ourselves and the exploitation to get through the day without having to change our behavior.

So in my opinion, if you want to talk about ethics and AI, you first have to acknowledge the uncomfortable truth that ethical AI is just another label on moral compromise.

In 2025 alone, companies used AI as the excuse for tens of thousands of layoffs even though most of those organizations don\u2019t have AI systems capable of replacing the people they let go.

And the most recent contender for the AI washing crown goes to the trendsetting Block<\/a>, who cynically expects us to believe that roughly 40% of its workforce can already be fired due to AI instead of owning their bad hiring practices.

So pardon MY cynicism but there isn\u2019t \u201cethical AI\u201d, there\u2019s AI blanketing a tech industry too comfortable with compromise, powered by exploited labor, and using familiar rationalizations as shields for decisions that hurt real people.

But as The Big Chill taught us (thanks to my friend Michael Bolton<\/a> who reminded me of this clip):

\u201cDon\u2019t knock rationalization; where would we be without it? I don\u2019t know anyone who could get through the day without two or three juicy rationalizations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n