Regarding the electricity not going to local customers: it’s not my fault that your country does not have appropriate regulations. None of the data centers are located where I live anyways.

Regarding hiring a human: I 100% would hire a human if there was no AI, you’re right, I’m not trying to hide it. Sucks for them I guess but I don’t see a reason why should I keep using their services if I can get a cheaper and arguably better alternative now - I’m trying to make money, not run a charity supporting development of 3rd world countries with authoritarian regimes.

However, I am pretty sure that the companies which I’m paying are currently operating on a loss with my $3/month and free coding plans. They want to grow the customer base and I’ll just switch once they will start wanting to make a profit, like the Chinese ZAI just did this week, hiking up their prices by over 3x. They are operating on a loss with my <3$/month contribution and not buying another mega yacht yet getting further away from one.

They weren’t my full time employees but one time gigs. I’ve worked with tons of freelancers over the years, I don’t have any special relationship with them. It’s was just a matter of whoever would offer the lowest price for the gig each time