When you hear the word veganism, you probably think of plant-based diets, animal rights activism, and the choice to avoid products made through animal exploitation. But a new movement is gaining traction — one that swaps livestock for laptops and factory farms for data centers. It’s called AI veganism, and it’s challenging how we think about the ethics of artificial intelligence.
What Is AI Veganism?
According to a recent Times of India feature, AI veganism applies the moral logic of traditional veganism to the digital world — questioning “the exploitation of data, algorithms, or human labor in the creation and operation of AI systems” (source).
Instead of avoiding meat, AI vegans aim to avoid AI systems they see as harmful — whether due to unethical data collection, exploitative content generation practices, or the environmental costs of massive compute operations.
Why Now?
AI has gone from a niche research field to a multi-billion-dollar driver of industry, art, and even daily communication. But with that growth comes ethical baggage:
Data Privacy Concerns — AI models are often trained on huge swaths of internet content without explicit permission.
Labor Exploitation — Low-wage workers label data, moderate AI outputs, and train systems under grueling conditions.
Environmental Impact — The energy demands of large AI models can be massive, adding to concerns about carbon footprints.
As the Times of India article notes, the rise of AI veganism reflects “broader societal concerns about AI’s impact on privacy, employment, and social values.”
What Does AI Veganism Look Like in Practice?
Much like food veganism, there’s no single “right” way to be an AI vegan. People approach it differently:
Refusing to use AI tools that rely on questionable data practices.
Choosing open-source or transparent AI models where training data and processes are public.
Advocating for policy changes that regulate exploitative AI development.
Educating others about the human and environmental costs of AI.
Will It Catch On?
Movements like this often start small but grow as awareness spreads. Veganism in food was once fringe — now it’s a multi-billion-dollar industry influencing global supply chains. AI veganism might follow a similar path if public pressure for ethical AI continues to mount.
At its core, AI veganism is a question: If we wouldn’t tolerate exploitation in one area of life, why should we accept it in another — even if it’s digital?
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