AI Harms
Are
Human
Harms
kill frankenstein is a movement to hold the people who abuse AI, profit from AI-reLATED harms, or Fail to regulate AI accountable for their actions.
FOunding StatemenT
Artificial Intelligence is holding a mirror to us as a species. Everything about it, from the data we fed it to how it’s used, is a reflection of our values, priorities, and morals. We see this in the mirror, but rather than confront what we see reflected at us, we’ve chosen to shatter the mirror.
Two centuries ago, Mary Shelley wrote the story of a man who stitched a creature together, gave it life, and refused to take responsibility for it. The creature was not the villain of that story. It was Frankenstein. Shelley’s message was clear: rather than blame the monster, we must turn our attention to its creator.
It is time to demand human accountability for AI.
AI has been here for roughly 70 years. Used well, this technology has transformative potential: better decisions, faster learning, fewer errors, and more time for the things that make us human. Right now, that potential is being squandered by decisions that we alone are making. AI is being used to punish, misinform, reject, replace, and kill. When it comes time to answer for this wrongdoing, the people responsible point to the machine.
But AI is neither sentient nor self-acting. It has no emotions, no agenda, and no morals. It operates entirely at the direction of human beings. AI is flawed, but that is because human beings are flawed.
“Do your duty towards me, and I will do mine towards you and the rest of mankind.”
-The creature to his creator (Mary Shelley's Frankenstein).
Kill Frankenstein is a movement to hold the people who abuse AI, profit from AI harms, or fail to regulate AI accountable for their actions, or lack thereof. Our demands are clear and reasonable:
I – Regulate AI
We want governments to establish ethical and safety standards for AI models, ensure AI developers/labs comply with those standards, and take assholes to court when they cause harm with AI.
II - Strict Liability
We want the people making decisions at AI labs to be held civilly and criminally responsible when AI is involved in harm. This includes when AI models provide information that is used to commit crimes, when AI models provide false or misleading information that results in injury, illness, or death, or when AI companies willfully cause environmental harm or displacement. We also want individuals to be held criminally responsible for AI-assisted wrongdoing. This is no different than holding a car maker responsible for safety defects, while holding an individual responsible for vehicular manslaughter.
III - Right to Refuse
All of us – workers, passengers, patients, students, citizens – need to have the right to determine whether and how AI is used in our communities. No one should be “left behind” or excluded from society because they cannot access or do not want to use AI. This includes the right to demand human-made art, writing, and creative work, and to reject AI-generated content in spaces meant to celebrate human creativity. This also means the right to demand a human decision-maker.
IV - Combat Doomerism and Anthropomorphism
We need to “humanize” the AI discourse. People are the ones responsible for what happens with AI. We don’t have time for defeatism. It’s pathetic, defies reason, ignores precedent, and justifies doing nothing. At the same time, we need to “de-humanize” our AI language. These are machines. They don’t “think,” “understand,” “feel,” or “decide.” Using these words shifts responsibility. AI computes. People decide.
“On you it rests whether I lead a harmless life or become the author of your speedy ruin.”
-The creature to his creator (Mary Shelley's Frankenstein).
AI may at times feel like a brave new world, but we are not in uncharted territory. We have the power to hold those who abuse, profit from, and fail to regulate artificial intelligence accountable. Any argument to the contrary is refuted by precedent. Between cars, airplanes, pharmaceuticals, and the internet, the logic has held every time: guilt cannot be placed on the inanimate. Guilt rests squarely in the hands of those who use technology to cause harm.
We know that a better future is possible. It just requires all of us who are affected by AI, directly or indirectly, now or in the future, to act like it.
KF is building spaces to celebrate human creativity and ingenuity; documenting and putting pressure on the people trying to replace humans with AI; and building a community that will eventually take on bigger fights to combat AI-related injustices.
As a human-led, AI-supported initiative, KF is modeling the relationship we want all people to have with AI. We use AI when it enhances our work and advances the movement. We reject AI when it stifles or replaces human creativity, rots our brains, or violates our ethics and values.
The minds behind Kill Frankenstein: human.
The artwork created for and by this movement: human.
This statement you’re reading (em dashes and all): human.
AI is not our friend. It’s also not a monster. The bastards who abuse and misuse it are the monsters.
If you want AI to do the laundry and dishes so that we can do the art and writing, not the other way around (Joanna Maciejewska), and if you’re ready to hold wrongdoers accountable, share this statement, follow us on social media, and use the form below to express interest in supporting the movement.
Join the movement
Kill Frankenstein is a new and growing movement. If you’re a researcher, journalist, designer, artist, lawyer, organizer, developer, or someone else who knows how to shake shit up, you’ll be right at home. Complete the form below and someone will be in touch.