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Q: Why does DeFlock recommend/use AI for things like public records requests? I don't think you should use AI. A: Our reason for recommending AI as a tool is to help ordinary people make use of existing transparency laws. Public records requests are a legal accountability mechanism, but many people don't know how to draft effective requests or navigate bureaucratic processes — AI can help lower that barrier and make government oversight more accessible. AI has real drawbacks and isn't the best solution in every case, but in our view it's a useful way to lower the barrier to entry for people who wouldn't otherwise engage. Nobody on our end thinks these concerns are unreasonable — we've had internal discussions about this ourselves, since plenty of us have our own reservations about AI. Using AI is never required; you're welcome to skip it entirely. We appreciate you raising it and would love to support whatever action you want to take in your own community.
Q: Why is DeFlock using AI-generated art/imagery? I don't think you should use AI for that either. A: We understand AI-generated imagery is a contentious topic, and plenty of us have mixed feelings about it too — these aren't unreasonable concerns, and we've had internal discussions about the tradeoffs. Our community is made up mostly of technical contributors rather than artists, so while AI imagery isn't a perfect solution, it's helped us produce visual assets for projects that otherwise would have had none at all. If you'd rather see non-AI artwork, we'd genuinely welcome community contributions, and we're happy to support anyone interested in creating or organizing an alternative artwork effort. We appreciate you raising this — conversations like this help us make better decisions as a community, even when we don't all land in the same place, and we'd be glad to support other initiatives you want to pursue too.