Mods,
Just checking if y'all are doing the walkout thing over the AI policy. Not saying you should go either way, just wanting to know if you are.
4 Answers
I have signed the letter and marked myself as absent.
However, I have not handed back any of my mod diamonds. I would emphasize that signing the letter to the company is really just a walkout with the hopes that we can find a resolution. There have been moderators that simply stepped down instead.
The main reason I participate are the users here and on the other sites that I am a moderator on. When I got elected, I gave a commitment to this community to support and protect all of you and the site. If the company puts me in an position where I am forced to do one thing, when the public policy says another, when I am supposed to accept that mutual agreements, established after the 2019/2020 situation that almost tore up the network, are ignored - my conscience tells me to take a break. I feel my personal integrity is on the line here.
I will
- still visit the site very regularly
- not step down at the moment (but that’s not entirely under my control)
- still use my permissions to protect the individual users e.g. in cases of severe CoC violations, if no other moderator is available.
If you have any questions, I will be happy to talk with you in the Frying Pan.
I'm not very active at all, but I'll be sticking around for the time being to make sure that flags get handled (eventually, anyways).
This doesn't mean I'm happy about AI policies etc etc, just that I'm not deciding to go inactive over it. I'm also happy to leave the other mods free to do as they like.
For what it's worth, I'm strongly against many proposed uses of AI, including the use of AI to write answers here. I do not pretend to have done sufficient due diligence to know how best to implement policies, though. There are absolutely legitimate concerns about collateral damage and bias with any policy and means of enforcement I am currently aware of. My main hope is that the strike/walkout is part of a story that eventually leads to a better situation.
I am here, and moderating.
The AI question is still mostly theoretical for our site. We have deleted maybe a dozen posts on suspicion of being generated, and I don't think we've ever suspended anybody for AI-related reasons. So, unlike other moderators on the network, we aren't much affected by the policy itself.
As for the relationship between the company and the moderators, that's a difficult topic - and from my point of view, the more important one. There are many facets of it which I'm not happy about. Still, currently, it doesn't feel like going on strike now would be the right decision for me personally. If this changes in the future, I'll let you know.
As said in the comments, I've been back in school full time. My long-term, barely active status puts me in the lovely position of not needing to make a decision about this today. I am not up to speed, so I'm not in a position to sign the letter or mark myself inactive.
If the striking moderators are fired, that would most likely cause me to give up my diamond. I hope it doesn't come to that.
From what I understand about the strike, I stand in solidarity with strikers.
