AI seems useful, doesn't it? Surely using it just once won't hurt?
It makes us feel good, powerful, and correct. But at what cost? The cast of Grange Hill taught us in the 1980s that the only way not to become hooked on the junk is to just say NO, and this campaign implores you to do the same.
Friends don't let friends get hooked on AI
Indiscriminate use of AI seems harmless because it feels easy and frictionless. But the real costs are often hidden: a loss of trust, skill, and privacy, as well as environmental impacts and real-world harm.
You might think "I've got nothing to hide," but every time you give up your privacy you sell a little bit of your life for companies and governments to do what they want with.
Rule of thumb: if the service is free, you are probably the product.
It might seem amusing when an AI tells us to put glue on a pizza, but how can we trust that we're getting correct, well-researched answers from machines that halloucinate?
Reminder: the machine can lie, and then lie about having lied.
We don't really know how AI tools work or the long-term impact they have on our brains. But we've invited them into every aspect of our homes and lives, sharing with them our most intimate moments.
We're the ones they're being tested on, real-time.
Convenience is not a justification.
If your only reason is “it’s quicker”, that’s a clue you might be using it to dodge the work or the learning you actually need to do: thinking, checking, writing, deciding, listening.
It's not clear cut. There are legitimate uses for the technology that powers most modern AI systems. But the hype bubble surrounding chatbots and AI tools comes with significant risks both to the environment and ourselves.
Sources: Study | AI Safety Report
Sources: Paper
Sources: Whitepaper | AI Safety Report
Sources: Paper
This is not an anti-AI manifesto. There are a number of legitimate uses for machine learning technologies that aren't harmful or as destructive.
AI that detects, predicts, or optimises rather than speaks, writes, or creates.
Detecting cancer using Machine Learning is an example.
AI that crunches huge data sets to predict natural disasters using non-human data.
Tsunami early warning systems are an example.
AI that can find rare events in massive datasets in astronomy and particle physics.
Finding new spots for telescope photography is an example.
Just becase a tool exists, doesn't mean it's useful for everything.
If you wouldn't use a hammer to wash the dishes or feed your kids, why use AI tools for every task you can?
Getting over AI addiction, or curbing your use, isn't always easy. It's hard to go cold turkey! These five tips should help prompt better habits and help you start to find balance.
Feeling stuck, uncertain, or slow doesn’t mean you need a tool to step in. Those moments are where learning, originality, and confidence are built, and you’re allowed to take your time with them.
If something involves another person’s name, image, words, personal details, or anything to do with children, the ethical choice is simple: keep it human, keep it private, and keep AI out of it.
It’s completely okay to say “this isn’t my skill” and bring in someone who does it for a living. Paying artists, writers, and specialists supports real expertise rather than pretending to have it via a machine.
Doing things thoughtfully, slowly, and with attention isn’t a failure of productivity. It’s often the difference between work that merely exists and work that actually means something.
Every time you choose not to delegate your thinking, writing, or decision-making to a system, you’re strengthening your own capacity to focus, reason, and create on your own terms. Remember, the mind is a muscle that needs excersise just like your arms or legs do!
What's a website without a call to action? Take the Just Say No pledge and show your support for a more human world. Copy it, tweak it, put it in your handbook or on your website with pride.
I'm/We're trying to "Just say NO" to AI
It's not about being against AI, but being pro-human, pro-environment, and pro-privacy.
Please do. It’s designed to be copied and adapted, and shared widely.
No. The "Just Say No" campaign from the BBC television series "Grange Hill" served as inspiration for the name, but the project has absolutely no affiliation with the show or anyone who worked on it.
We get it. AI is everywhere and one website isn't nessecarily going to convince you to stop using it.
But it's not just us.
Here is some further reading to help educate, inform, and provide guidance to help you make good choices when it comes to AI. We hope it's useful!