This year, 2025, has been a very strange year. The Artificial Intelligence craze hit early and caused me a lot of consternation. (Note: It still causes me a lot of same.)
It was at that time when M$FT started pushing Copilot, hard. It was also a time when the scraping of data, not necessarily public, by Big Tech also got my attention. It was enough impetus to much me toward making some changes to reduce my digital footprint.
That journey began a couple years ago with my reading of Cal Newsome’s Digital Minimization, which I wrote about before. It resulted in me abandoning Instagram and Twitter/X and looking to reduce my use of a mobile phone for other things besides being a phone. With the realization that Google, Apple, and M$FT were likely all scraping *my* data, I decided I want out to the extent physically possible.
I was already unhappy with paying a subscription for M$FT Office tools. I was not using any in-house browser, instead using Firefox to reduce my exposure. I decided that I want to go back to Linux as my main operating platform and then work out how to use required tools to get my work done.
I am still working on this. I do have a working Linux laptop I bought used as a test bed. Unfortunately, I was so busy with work that I did not make much progress on this important personal project. But, some progress was made.
I did buy a new Android phone and install GrapheneOS on it. The phone was much less expensive than an iPhone, much smaller (in size and memory), and I have substantially restricted what is installed on it. I need a smartphone for a few necessary apps, but I do not want to be attached to it for hours each day. The computer is bad enough.
I eschewed most social media. YouTube remains an issue as it is a source of both education (how to do things) and entertainment (favorite content creators). But, there are also channels there that I need to leave behind or restrict as time wasters and negative energy producers. I ended my Facebook account.
I had a call from a potential client/partner to compete for a project in Texas. They asked for a headshot. I do not really have one, so I grabbed a selfie and sent along one I made while hiking in the field. One of the team leaders told me “no problem, I will fix it with AI.” The header image is a result. This image is not me; it is a heavily edited version of an image of me and demonstrates some of what the tools can do. Those who know me will recognize it as a likeness, but will notice subtle differences that make it more of an interpretation than an actual image of yours truly.
I am not sure this is a good thing. And, I think that is enough to say.
Nonetheless, I remain grateful. The Girl and I love life and love being together. Life is good.