05/21/2026
I love all of you. Excuse me as I rant a little bit. It has come to my attention that some people are boycotting and judging small businesses for using ChatGPT to make flyers, posts, or marketing content (probably while binge streaming shows for 6 hours straight on 3 devices at once.)
Technology is a tool. That’s it.
Small business owners wear many hats a day:
• marketing
• accounting
• customer service
• events
• inventory
• social media
• payroll
• family
Pets (lots of pets)
I have no life. I work 7 days a week 2 jobs. So, yeah, ai helps me save time, stay creative, while trying to keep my doors open, why is that somehow “lazy”…but using technology for entertainment is perfectly fine?
Even Canva helps people design with ai now. I created a new website and WIX went straight into ai.
Nobody complains when Netflix auto-recommends your next show.
But a local business owner uses AI to make a flyer at midnight after a 14 hour day and suddenly people act like they committed a crime against graphic design. I didn’t pay a graphic designer to make my flyers before either.
Support small businesses however they create.
Most of us are just trying to survive, adapt, and keep building something for our community.
But I understand if you won't attend my event if I used chat gpt to make the flyer. Let's be honest I was struggling before all that boycotting.
Fun facts to consider that I looked up on the now ai internet:
Streaming video accounts for a massive chunk of global internet traffic. An hour of streaming high-definition video (like on Netflix or YouTube) consumes between \(100\text{ – }400\) watt-hours, emitting up to 56 grams of \(CO_{2}\) per hour. In contrast, a heavy ChatGPT user asking 50 prompts a day generates a fraction of this, comparable to the energy a TV uses just sitting in standby mode.Data Consumption: Text-based ChatGPT uses very little data. Streaming in standard definition uses \(0.7\text{ – }1\text{ GB}\) per hour, while high-definition (HD) or 4K streaming can consume up to \(10\text{ GB}\) of data per hour.Data Center Demands: Both services rely on massive server infrastructures. However, the AI-focused centers require extremely specialized hardware and cooling (which also requires water evaporation). While AI's total energy footprint is rising quickly as models become more complex, video streaming continues to dominate overall global data center power draw.Explore the carbon footprint of your digital habits in the Greenly Carbon Cost of Streaming Study or review how AI data consumption measures up via MIT News on AI's Environmental Impact.
Rant over... :)
