#AI ethics intersecting nonprofit governance this morning...sigh.
I sit on the boards of some different organisations, all of which are directly or at most one layer removed from direct climate mitigation efforts. LLM usage has been creeping into board activities, in the form of note-taking and meeting summaries, and now we have a question before one committee about doing academic literature reviews.
I responded by stating my personal opposition to everything that AI represents, and cited the energy use and carbon emissions as major objections. I also raised the issue of intellectual property theft and the extra work required to vet sources, saying that it might wind up costing the society more volunteer work than it saves.
At this point there's a member agreeing with me, and quite explicitly. So far a few others have weighed in with a far more equivocal stance, a couple even saying that we shouldn't put a "political" stake in the ground on this subject.
I'm genuinely conflicted as to how I proceed in the discussion. Part of me is ready to pitch my toys and take a hard line, but I know that this is probably not the hill to die on. I guess a formal motion and vote is the procedurally sound thing to do, and those of us have have strong opinions on the matter can go on record with our opposition.
Phil Stevens :tinoflag:
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2026-08-17 22:36:22 UTC
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