NO NO NO

[anantagd@ieji.de]

RE: https://wetdry.world/@micr0/115804648175726731

NO NO NO

#WarAgainstAltbot

"the vision stuff"

#blind

[nelson@wetdry.world]

@anantagd ?????

[anantagd@ieji.de]

@nelson I am blind. Seeing people who think I'm not worth the effort fill my timeline with AltBot generated AI stuff that isn't even accurate in lots of cases.

Human alt text is always better, because it doesn´t focus on ocular seeing. Seeing people think, and AltBot was designed around that notion, that blind people must compensate for missing "eye-seeing", but that's not the case. I am interested in the meaning of an image to you, its maker or publisher.

Again, human alt text is better, also because it strengthens reciprocity between seeing and blind people. AltBot doesn't but it makes seeing people believe they have done their bit for accessibility. In actuality, the reverse is often true.

!!!!!!!!!

[micr0@wetdry.world]

@anantagd @nelson
hey, i hear you and this is genuinely good insights... the "meaning vs contents" thing isn't something i have thought about before or heard from other people who rely on alt-text

and i just wanna say tho, altbot already tries to push people toward writing their own alt text. there's reminders to edit posts, weekly tips saying human alt text is better, i even had a leaderboard for human-written descriptions (for people who followed altbot but used it the least, by writing their own alt-text). the generated text is meant as a starting point, not a replacement. i find myself using altbot less and less and i hope more people do to.

sadly i can't really control if people get lazy with it. but the alternative is those same people posting with no alt-text at all

and i'm always open to ideas on how to make this tool better. if there's something, anything, i could add that would help, i'd genuinely like to hear it

[anantagd@ieji.de]

@micr0 @nelson but that is not the effect. People don´t start writing their own alt text more, they start relying on AltBot more. So it is a replacement, sadly, because I recognize the good intentions behind it.

I hope it is clear I don't do ocular seeing. Meaning is content too.

"The black and white image appears to show two young women in a rural setting., dressed in polka dot dresses. The scene seems serene and calm...." etc ad nauseam. And then the image appears in someone's post and it turns out they're his lesbian great aunts or some such.

In that case: : "my Lesbian great aunts in a black and white photo from the 1960, wearing identical polka dot dresses"

At least does the notion of reciprocity and valuable human exchange hold water? Seeing and blind people have little interaction such as it is. AltBot creates an image around blind people that I consider to be detrimental in the long run.