For decades, progressives, civil libertarians, LGBTQ activists, and advocates for marginalized communities have fought a simple battle:
Let people be themselves.
We’ve challenged the idea that people should be mocked, ostracized, or shamed simply because they choose to live differently than the majority. We’ve argued that adults should be free to pursue happiness in their own way, provided they aren’t harming others. We’re the activists who have been the ones standing up for the people do the “different” thing.
Yet somehow, many of these same people have become comfortable using one of humanity’s oldest tools of social control:
Shame.
The target this time isn’t someone’s religion, sexuality, gender expression, or lifestyle.
It’s AI.
If you’ve spent any time online recently, you’ve seen the comments:
“All AI art looks like crap.”
“I can always tell when something was made by AI.”
“Anyone using AI is lazy.”
“Using AI proves you’re not actually talented.”
“Real artists don’t use AI.”
Notice something? Very few of these statements are actually criticisms of the work itself. They’re attempts to shame the person making it. The goal isn’t to persuade. The goal is to change behavior through social pressure.
That’s bullying.
The Oldest Form of Social Control
Before governments regulated behavior, societies regulated behavior through ridicule. People were mocked for marrying the wrong person. Mocked for dressing differently. Mocked for listening to the wrong music. Mocked for loving the wrong people. Mocked for expressing themselves in ways the majority found strange.
Every generation seems to recognize this behavior when it’s directed at groups they support.
Yet many fail to recognize it when they’re the ones doing it.
Let People Enjoy Things
Maybe someone uses AI to create artwork or write poetry or brainstorm ideas or because they aren’t naturally gifted artists. Maybe they use AI simply because it’s fun.
Why does that bother anyone?
The Let.Live principle is simple:
People should be free to pursue happiness however they choose, so long as they aren’t harming others.
AI users are not forcing anyone else to use AI.
They’re not preventing anyone from painting by hand.
They’re not stopping musicians from composing.
They’re not banning photographers from taking pictures.
They’re simply choosing a different tool.
Every New Tool Was “Cheating”
History is filled with examples of people condemning new technologies.
Photographers were accused of destroying art. Digital artists were told they weren’t “real” artists. Electronic musicians were mocked for not using “real instruments.” Word processors were accused of making writers lazy. Calculators were accused of ruining mathematics. The internet was accused of destroying learning.
Now AI occupies the same role.
Some criticisms will undoubtedly prove valid because every technology creates tradeoffs. The printing press put many monks out of work, but it brought the printed word to many more people.
But criticism of a tool is different from shaming the people who choose to use it.
The Tolerance Test
Tolerance isn’t tested when we approve of what someone is doing. Tolerance is tested when we don’t.
It’s easy to support freedom for people who behave exactly as we would. It’s much harder when they make choices we find strange, annoying, or unnecessary. Yet that is precisely when tolerance matters most.
A society that says “You can do whatever you want, as long as it’s something I don’t disapprove approve of” doesn’t actually believe in freedom. It believes in conformity.
Let.Live Means Let Live
You don’t have to use AI.
You don’t have to like AI.
You don’t have to enjoy AI-generated art, music, writing, or entertainment.
You can criticize it.
You can debate it.
You can refuse to consume it.
What you shouldn’t do is attempt to control other people’s choices through ridicule and social shaming.
That tactic has been used against countless minorities and unconventional people throughout history. We should recognize it by now.
The next time you’re tempted to say:
“I can tell that’s AI.”
Ask yourself:
Are you offering a critique?
Or are you simply trying to make someone feel bad for enjoying something you don’t?
Because those are not the same thing.
And only one of them is consistent with a culture of tolerance.
At Let.Live, we believe people should be free to create, experiment, and express themselves using whatever tools they choose. That’s decidedly NOT because every choice is equally good.
It’s because freedom means allowing people to make choices for themselves, and not kink shaming them.
Even when we wouldn’t make the same choices ourselves.
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