this post was submitted on 20 Feb 2026
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Well, isn't it? IMO some of the most popular arguments against generative AI are founded in misinformation and/or don't have strong rational defenses, even though there are better arguments further down the list, but that doesn't stop anyone because in the court of public opinion rhetoric and emotion trumps rational argument. This becomes really obvious when you try to publicly confront the failings of these arguments, in most cases the discussion will devolve into personal attacks immediately as people interpret argument as support of the enemy. If Cory Doctorow is being a little weaselly and failing to lay out an ethical position with full forthrightness, that's probably because doing so is a recipe for making everyone angry at you, regardless of your views, and since he's a public figure attempting to persuade people who mostly agree with him anyway and aren't trying to think too hard it would be a stupid choice.
It would be great if we had a culture where it was safe to lay out and consider ethical ideas on their merits without holding anything back, but we just don't, and it's unfair to demand that from people who have to answer to the public because every single one of them would get crushed if they actually did it.