LLM Usage as an Ethical Spectrum

Understanding, Not Permission, on August 26, 2026 I don’t want you to walk away from this opinion piece with the wrong idea, so let me state this very clearly up front: There is no ethical usage of Generative AI. And we won’t waste time with hypotheticals such as so-called open source models as a get-out-of-ethical-jail-free card. No, using one of them instead of Claude Code or ChatGPT to generate all your code, or your ad copy, doesn’t give you a pass. That being said, I have been explaining for a long time there are particular usage patterns within the LLM space that I would consider “less unethical” (even though, to be abundantly clear, they still are not ethical). I don’t believe I’ve recorded these “less unethical” usage patterns anywhere in a systematic fashion, so that’s what this essay is all about. Let’s roll! 🙋🏼‍♂️ If you resonate with anything I’ve said herein, I invite you to become a member of my little subscription program Intuitive+. I publish an exclusive podcast…