I play, and already have, like a whole bunch of musical instruments. I’m not Eric Clapton on any of them, but I can play well enough and I can sing ok, and I’m pretty genre-fluid. There are lots of people just like me. As long as humans have campfires someone is going to bring a guitar to it.

I recently picked up a harmonica specifically to avoid enshittification. Learning to play it is a blast, and reminds me that hard work can lead to progress

Pen&Paper games. I already have more than enough stuff to play with friends for the rest of my life.

I sometimes cross stitch. I also have a basic ukulele that I pull out and strum for a bit. It’s nice to just make something because I want to.

I make mechanical keyboards and macro-pads. 3D printing was the revolution for that hobby rather than anything AI can do.

Playing board games and card games.

Meeting humans.

Going outside. Walking, camping, hiking. Anything you like.

Having a home server gives you plenty to do as a hobby too. There’s plenty of AI impact on how much vibe coding is going on now. But a home server services are really the opposite of enshittification. Free services that get better and better vs enshitified paid services that get worse and worse. I still can’t believe people have been doing so much amazing FOSS work for free.

Analog media. Music on LPs.

Different art mediums. Sculpture, painting, 3D modeling, mixed media, knitting/crochet are all things AI can’t really do.

I’m honestly surprised that you think every hobby in the world is enshitified by AI. Everything is affected by constant high inflation and cost of living for a very prolonged time… But AI isn’t to blame for everything (unless you lose your job to it).

Reading. Kindle + Calibre.

Meditation

Crochet. And when i have a garden growing Dhalias

I am considering some cheesemaking too. Anyone fancy a Christmas Cheesemaking thread?

A lot of comments here sound good, but they are not totally immune to enshittification. Mostly because they are also influenced by potential price hikes.

That said: Does it even matter? OP, you probably have more than enough videogames in your Steam library to play for the rest of your life. New games may get AI stuff shoved in them, better hardware might get unaffordable, but you are not forced to go with that. You have bazillions of games to chose from: Your current backlog, old games you totally missed out, new Indie games, emulation and maybe, maybe even some big publishers will make cool games in the future.

You don’t have to play the Ocarina Of Time Remake, you can just emulate the original (or even play on original hardware if you have). GTA 6? Just play Vice City instead. And Indie games either come with completely original ideas or are just spiritual successors of you favorite game series that have been enshittified for years.

Alright, this one is going to sound radical, and frankly a bit unhinged, but hear me out: bicycling.

I know. I know. Stay with me.

Instead of staring at the same screen you’ve stared at for the last 4 000 consecutive hours, you’ll be exposed to the outside world. Yes, all of it. Weather, sunlight, other human beings, occasionally even a bird. There is no patch notes for any of this, and I won’t lie to you, the onboarding experience is brutal.

The good thing is, the hardware is immune to enshittification. Nobody can push a firmware update to a bicycle that adds a subscription. There’s no launcher, no DRM, no account requirement, and no AI slop injected into your commute. A bike from 1987 still works. Try that with a smart TV from 2024. BTW the e-bike upgrade is opt-in, and it comes with all the usual corpo cancer you hate. Stick with your fully analog bike instead, you’ll thank me later. Analog bikes don’t have artificial intelligence. The onboard genuine stupidity engine utilizes the latest and greatest organic neuron technology and it will ensure you’ll get lost sooner or later.

The performance uplift is also significant. Instead of exercising your finger muscles, you’ll be training your legs, which have been sitting in early access for most of your life. Users report improved mood, better sleep, and the strange sensation of having been somewhere.

Risks include: fresh air, mild physical exertion, and discovering that your neighborhood exists. Side effects may include enjoying yourself. I’d recommend starting slow. Ten minutes. Bring water. Tell someone where you went, in case the outside gets you.

Unless they figure out a way to stop wind: flying kites.

Biking

Camping

Walking / Hiking

I feel like a lot of these recommendations are going to be expensive hobbies that need gear that could enshittify, and even things like reading you have to be cautious of authors abusing AI to churn out slop. So may I suggest the humble hobbies of writing and language learning. Writing costs almost nothing and you can make it more pleasant by investing in an inexpensive €10 fountain pen for sustainability and a jar of ink that will last years. Good paper doesn’t have to be expensive and you can make your own notebooks with just buying A5 paper and using binder clips. Language learning can be done with flashcards, SRS systems like Anki, self translating, etc.

Making stuff. Knitting, carpentry, brewing, sewing, all give you something you can show people along the way.

The game of Go