It sure sounds to me like they were trying to justify it. Funny or not, if it hurts everyone so no, it’s not a justified use. Hurting anyone, let alone everyone, just for the lolz is far from acceptable.
“It doesn’t hurt anyone.” does not automatically lead to “I think the energy consumption and its impact is justified”, unless the user claimed 1) that they’re aware of the impact, and 2) that they’re sharing that comment as a counterpoint to that impact.
(Note I’m not even disagreeing with their core argument. Seriously, I low key want to use image generation for some stuff, but when I think on the energy usage I simply “eh… let’s not.” I think the way you phrased it in another comment is way better.)
It sure sounds to me like they were trying to justify it. Funny or not, if it hurts everyone so no, it’s not a justified use. Hurting anyone, let alone everyone, just for the lolz is far from acceptable.
“It doesn’t hurt anyone.” does not automatically lead to “I think the energy consumption and its impact is justified”, unless the user claimed 1) that they’re aware of the impact, and 2) that they’re sharing that comment as a counterpoint to that impact.
(Note I’m not even disagreeing with their core argument. Seriously, I low key want to use image generation for some stuff, but when I think on the energy usage I simply “eh… let’s not.” I think the way you phrased it in another comment is way better.)