Life after AI chatbots: who are the “AI vegans”

The development of generative artificial intelligence has created a new category of users who consciously reject such technologies. They are called “AI vegans” — people who avoid any tools that create text, images or music without human involvement. The reason for this behavior is not only concern about fair competition, but also the fear of losing personal skills, creative development and the ability to think independently.

The story of a young participant in the Warframe video game competition became one of the most telling examples. Bella, a 21-year-old artist from the Czech Republic, was preparing her work under a tight deadline. However, her participation became meaningless after the competition accepted an image created entirely with AI. According to the girl, she saw no point in competing with someone who put in no effort and felt that her own work was devalued. Such situations are becoming more frequent, increasing dissatisfaction among creative professionals: artists, writers, designers and musicians.

Rejection of AI among “vegans” is not only a protest against unfair competition. Concerns are growing about how AI affects human cognitive functions. A recent study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology showed that participants using AI chatbots to write essays demonstrated lower brain activity than those who worked independently. Researchers noted that such users coped worse with understanding the created text, had difficulty retelling it and showed weaker results at linguistic and behavioral levels. Essentially, AI took over a significant share of the mental work, while the person used fewer of their own cognitive resources.

Many young creators claim they faced a loss of motivation and sense of involvement in the result when they began using AI generation more often. From this grows a movement whose participants prefer to completely exclude such tools from their lives. They call it “digital asceticism” — the desire to preserve the purity of skills, independence and authenticity of results.

At the same time, discussions arise about the fairness of competitions where human labor is placed alongside instantly generated works. Organizers do not always have clear rules, leading to conflicts and participants refusing to continue competing. This raises the question of the future of creative professions: whether they can retain the value of manual work and whether there will be room for individuality if AI models produce content faster and cheaper.

Despite the rapid growth of technologies, the “AI vegan” movement is becoming part of a global discussion about the balance between digital automation and human potential. For some, this is an ideological choice; for others, it is a way to preserve skills by avoiding excessive dependence on technology. The discussion continues to expand and reflects deep changes in how society perceives artificial intelligence and its impact on everyday life.

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