Why We See AI as a Tool, Not a Replacement
We keep noticing how quickly people’s view of AI shifts as soon as it shows up in everyday life: first curiosity, then hope, then scepticism, sometimes all at once. At Aktivismo, we often find ourselves sitting between those feelings, trying to stay calm while expectations build around us. What helps is a simple thought that carries us through many decisions: for us, AI is a tool that frees up hands, but it is no replacement for head, heart and responsibility.
A tool that gives time back
When we think about civic engagement, we rarely see a lack of ideas, but a lack of time, calm and structure. There is so much energy in initiatives and associations, yet it sometimes seeps away into small things that nobody would deliberately call important, but which still hold everything up: a turn of phrase, a first draft, a thread to follow. That is exactly where AI can help, because it makes starting easier and lowers the threshold, without us pretending that anything is solved by that alone. We experience it as a relief when a vague thought becomes a workable text we can develop further. It does not feel like a shortcut, but like making room for what only people can do anyway: weighing things up, listening and acting.
Where values begin and technology ends
In our work, we feel that values are not made of words, but of decisions. AI can suggest words, but it cannot decide what is fair, what fits the context or what consequences a statement will have in a specific situation. Remembering that keeps our use of AI clear-headed and, at the same time, demanding. Because even if a text sounds right, it can miss the mark, cause harm or smooth over what we really ought to look at closely. For us, responsibility begins precisely at the point where a draft seems good enough to accept without question, and yet we should still pause.
The temptation of the polished answer
I, Johann, know the feeling when a tool suddenly delivers a great deal very quickly, and you catch yourself mistaking speed for progress. It is tempting to take a polished answer for a good answer, especially when we are tired or under pressure. In political and social work in particular, polish can be dangerous, because it covers up conflict, blocks out perspectives and makes rough reality sound as though it can simply be edited away. We do not want AI to remove the friction that is sometimes necessary if we are to stay honest. Sometimes an unfinished sentence that we struggle for together is closer to the truth than a finished paragraph that hurts no one and therefore moves no one.
Trust is not created by automation
For us, using AI responsibly is closely tied to trust, and trust cannot be automated. We can build in technical safeguards, we can block harmful content and we can remind people that humans need to check and adapt. Even so, the decisive question remains a human one: are we prepared to carry the consequences of what we publish and put into the world. If we understand Aktivismo as a safe space, then also as a space where people dare to treat drafts as drafts and allow uncertainty. Trust grows when we are transparent, when we handle data sparingly and when we do not pretend we can solve every boundary with technology.
Staying human, even when it gets efficient
We want engagement to become more accessible without losing its warmth. Efficiency can be kind when it gives us room for conversation, community and real steps, and it can turn cold when it distances us from ourselves. That is why we make sure our tools do not need to shine outward, but to carry inward: into the moment when someone sorts through an idea and feels less alone. Madeleina often reminds us that design is not just surface, but atmosphere, invitation and respect. If AI helps people begin faster, it should also remind us to stay slow enough not to bowl people over, neither in our language nor in our impact.
In the end, the first doable step is ours
Perhaps this is exactly what we need to keep telling ourselves: AI can nudge us, but it cannot stand in for us. It can make a beginning easier, but it cannot take responsibility in our place, nurture relationships or find courage. We want Aktivismo to move people from thought to action without overwhelming them, and we do not want to forget that action is more than a text. In the end, it is our perspective, our conscience and our way of being together that decide whether a draft becomes a good direction. And perhaps it is reassuring that it has to stay that way.
