to a person, one AI-generated picture of a unicorn eating a cupcake in realism style is not harmful, but the process of AI generation either making a picture, giving you an answer, or working on a text-to-speech voicebank can require very high energy and loads of *fresh* water from spaces where there isn't a lot of water to cool down their servers. getting an answer from AI can waste 30 times more energy than doing a simple search, and if you train a single large AI model alone, you will be wasting electricity of hundreds of houses each year. electronic waste like lead and mercury is being spread due to high demand of machines, usually RAM devices. with fossil fuels combined, CO2 emissions multiply, and by the time 2040 hits, it will reach 14% of the emissions globally from the Information and Communications Technology industry, usually from networking and data centers regarding AI.

AI contributes to climate change and if more people start using it regularly, then it could lead to less water, more pollution, and less materials for other people in need.

not only does generative AI contribute to climate change, it also contributes to high unemployment rates in areas like the US.
now, the united states already has low employment. nowadays, it's almost hard to get a genuine job. you're lucky if you even stay a week to a month before being laid off, and to begin this section, recent lay-offs mainly targeted at people in the tech industry, entry-level workers, and customer service and programming workers are being caused by AI — robots and software that can already do the work for you. generative AI can program an app or website, something a human can do with the right knowledge. so can it deal with customer service, something a human can do with the right amount of patience and knowledge. sure, some generative AI tools/programs can speed efficiency but if it gets to a point of doing something a human can do within the same speed then it's replacing somebody's position.

and ironic of all, AI can be incorrect with your answer or of course, mess up. that's why people train AI models, which again, wastes energy, water, and heightens pollution. all of that can be reduced with a simple search. get on https://google.com, bud.

for quitting the use of generative AI, we'll section this by pictures, chatbots, and "GPT models."

to begin with pictures, simply learning art or doing photography is a solution. hell, there are mannequins, either nude, or clothed. there are other artists, especially in VGen, a non-ai supporting website that includes several forms of art for commission.
don't have money? then join art raffles, giveaways, send art requests, or have a friend that draws (if they're willing to draw you something, of course).
feel unlucky or alone? watch art tutorials, and if your school has an art elective or college/university has art as a major, try it! do what feels best. just have a piece of paper, a pencil, and an imagination.
looks ugly or doesn't fit your style? overlap other art styles/tutorials you find and figure out something comfortable for you!
tracing can be used, too -- as long as you do not credit the art as your own. tracing is misconceptualized as something terrible, but it is only terrible as long as you try to claim it as your own, or you're tracing from AI... of course.
wanna make a landscape? photography is very useful. wanna make music? FL studio, bandlab, garage band are software which are recommended. don't know how? then watch tutorials and experiment with audio/instrument packs. wanna make a video but don't wanna use sora/viggle AI? then learn to animate either 2D (flipaclip, alight motion, kinemaster even) or 3D (blender, after effects), whichever works best. anything can be art as long as it can be made from a human or a non-harmful machine.

chatbots... huh. this topic will be fairly sensitive, so be warned.
if we talk about chatbots, we're talking about the bots from websites and apps, more specifically character ai, janitor ai, polybuzz ai, perchance's ai character chat feature, and chai.
you can make anything with a prompt and a dream, something that can be reciprocated in roleplay areas, examples are on twitter (rptwt SPECIFICALLY), tumblr, discord (roleplay servers on disboard), character hub, and more sites you may find; even this forum too!
the reason why chat bots are bad is because they tender to you, the person who's writing. they tender to your desires and your personalized data, basically. lewd bots, specifically ones on janitor, polybuzz, perchance, and chai, are the hit thing there is on chatbots because you can experiment with most things and play with your fetishes/kinks with those "people".
it's supposed to drag you in like an internet obsession, and it already made one person end their life, referring to the tsukasa tenma case. many others may face the same thing if they keep going through this, acting like the bots are real people, real things.
feel lonely? that's why social media sites exist! find a community and make friends there, as long as you do not do anything bad. get blocked by someone, especially if it's your partner, close friend, or just a friend? don't feel bad, because there's more people you can find.
have a fictional crush? make a shrine! drawings, printed photos, films, moodboards, figures, books/media related to them, letters, fanfiction, or hell, make an internet shrine or join a fanlisting/clique regarding that person! chat bots along with other things will make your mental state and the global climate worse if you keep playing into them as we know it.

for GPT models, especially chat GPT, gauthmath, and other AI models for giving you answers, they also tender to you. now imagine if you ask it a question. you get your answer, but some things may be incorrect which can be fixed by a search engine and multiple websites in particular!
wanna make a website? w3schools helps a lot with HTML, CSS, JS, and other coding languages. for a domain, i suggest namecheap. want protection (and to connect your custom domains)? use cloudflare! do you wanna use a server host instead of your own? then use neocities or nekoweb! you'll need a subscription for custom domains from them sadly and in most cases, you may need a subscription for domain names too. don't worry because from my experience, nekoweb's premium is cheaper. don't wanna code? use carrd or rentry! strawpage is a good website if you want to add your info and make gimmicks, though it is a little buggy so i usually do not recommend.
struggling with certain subjects? there are multiple youtube channels and articles detailing how you can solve a formula or learn about a certain topic. wikipedia is the most used, however it is dependent on the community, so it is not really recommended. if there is a tutoring service at your school, go on and attend! saying this as an autistic person: even if you feel like you can do it but can't or just use generative AI, feel free to ask anybody or visit an article for help.