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Very unimpressed by pop neurodiversity influencers and their AI apologia. More bullshit claiming that anti-AI stances are classist and ableist and racist. Meanwhile, AI is built on exploited black labor, kills disabled people every day, disposesses the working class, and drinks all our water.

AI can be both useful and harmful for disabled people. I help a woman who is living with macular degeneration with learning to use a screen reader and Be My Eyes has AI help sometimes and it can be incredibly helpful when it is right. On the flip side AI systemically excludes disabled bodies from:

Work, schools, healthcare, and other spaces that are necessary for our survival and wellbeing.

To drive my point home… AI is a tool built in flawed pretenses… but saying it does no good for disabled people also denies the tangible benefits it provides as a stopgap when spaces are not accessible. This does not erase the harm, but the conversation has nuance and asks questions about:

I’m super interesting in this question of what work is worth (not) doing! I’ve been exploring two axes: 1) What deserves the consent/input of other people, even if it is possible to do without? 2) What is more rewarding/enjoyable when it is NOT automated, even it is possible to make it “easier?”

A lot of care work has historically been excluded from “productivity” measures like GDP, even tho it is arguably the most important thing that we can do. Misogynist etc as that history is, I actually find it kinda compelling: care work isn’t necessarily about productivity!