I can understand not being a fan of AI, but trying to boycott a small business for using it makes no sense to me. As long as they provide a great product or service, I don’t care if a tiny local shop uses AI to get by.
We’re talking about real local businesses here—teams of one to five people. It’s Tita’s bakery down the street, or your uncle’s mechanic shop. These aren’t massive corporations with creative departments and marketing budgets.
I don’t expect Tita to know how to design a poster from scratch, and I don’t expect my uncle to know how to code and build a website. Expecting a small business owner to either master graphic design or pay thousands of dollars just to put up a flyer isn’t realistic.
So if using AI helps them throw together a quick poster or get a simple website online so they can focus on their actual craft, let them use it. As long as the food is good or my car gets fixed right, that’s all that actually matters.
I can understand not being a fan of AI, but trying to boycott a small business for using it makes no sense to me. As long as they provide a great product or service, I don’t care if a tiny local shop uses AI to get by.