Writer Anthony Moser coins the term “generative AI vegetarian” to describe a deliberate avoidance of AI‑powered features that flood modern software. In a March 2026 Hacker News post he lists his own routine—turning off built‑in assistants, refusing AI‑generated content, and choosing tools that lack large language‑model add‑ons. The piece joins a growing chorus of critics who see these features as optional, not essential.

Generative AI tools combine a thin chat interface, massive scraped corpora, and transformer math that predicts the next token. Popular products—Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, and Apple Intelligence—embed this stack into office suites, phones, and laptops. Moser’s “vegetarianism” means disabling every toggle, rejecting AI‑augmented messaging, and avoiding any content created by such models. He also steers clear of AI‑generated images and music, preferring human‑made alternatives.

Critics argue that unchecked models propagate bias, erode creative skill, and concentrate power in a handful of vendors. Moser lists collateral harms: reduced critical thinking, threats to writers and artists, exploitative data‑labeling labor, and the environmental toll of data‑center energy use. By refusing these tools, he demonstrates that everyday productivity remains possible without surrendering agency to opaque AI services.