Excuse Me, Is There AI in That? Creators Are Fighting AI Anxiety With an ‘LLM-Free’ Movement

“Rarely has a technology risen—or been forced—into prominence amid such [controversy and consumer anxiety](https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/ai-really-is-smoke-and-mirrors). As such, a steady tick of companies, brands, and creative workers have taken to explicitly advertising their products and services as human-made. It’s a bit like the organic-food labels that rose to prominence years ago, but for digital labor. *Certified 100 percent AI-free.*

Writers and media outlets are slapping disclaimers and [“No AI” declarations](https://thecottagevegetable.com/2023/03/12/no-ai-here-declaration-of-a-genuine-blogger/) on [blogs and websites](https://thetimeblawg.com/2023/03/11/chatgpt-free-law-blog/); an organization called [Not by AI](https://notbyai.fyi/) offers a downloadable badge that anyone can use (it claims that 264,000 webpages currently do so).

A classical radio station in Omaha [issued a “No AI” pledge,](https://kvno.org/blog/a-no-ai-pledge/) and the Perth Comic Arts Festival [put out a statement](https://pcaf.org.au/ai-statement/) banning AI-generated media from its event.

Hashtags such as “#noai,” “#notai,” and “#noaiart” are deployed by users on Instagram—a modern take on the [#nofilter](https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/12/jameela-jamil-airbrushing-nofilter-feminism/577333/) trend that suggested that an image was presented without digital enhancements. The tech-journalism outlet 404 Media describes itself as AI free: “[Media for humans, by humans](https://www.404media.co/email/a6648b7e-4d67-431a-a868-759d7f4d2ca0/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter).”

In a digital ecosystem overwhelmingly controlled by monopolistic tech companies such as Google and Meta, each of which is bent on deploying new AI products [whether users want them or not](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/06/ai-eats-the-world/678627/), even these small declarations are ways to register a protest, signal discontent, and wave the flag for other AI skeptics to rally around.”