The main reason I’m slowly using less and less AI is price. I’m relying on the free tiers but I know that’s not gonna last forever.

I don’t want to pay for top notch AI, just like I don’t pay for top notch kernels (i.e., linux), top notch version systems (i.e., git) and so on.

If anything it's really going the other way. Free stuff keeps catching up with the most expensive pay-for stuff from a year or two ago. If I lost access to all the hosted AI today I don't think I'd really feel like I'm missing out.

I'd also disagree Linux is the top notch kernel. It might be the most universal one because of drivers and licensing and that makes it my personal favorite because it "just works" with pretty much no fuss (technical or social) but there are a number of kernels out there with better features.