I want to put this out there first before diving into the deeper stuff, I don’t hate AI and I’m not necessarily against it. I have absolutely no faith that, in a wider sense, it will be used ethically or that it will be used to improve anyone’s lives. 

The tech industry, world leaders, and decision-makers are hell-bent on squeezing the most money as possible out of every business, every process. For that reason, all eyes are on replacing people and we’re already seeing that happen in various fields.

Do I think AI can be a very useful technology? Yes. Do I believe that it has a ton of potential? Of course. I do find myself interested in uses of the technology to improve, speed up or augment things that aren’t manned by people. For example, headphones that can translate and transcribe using AI, or models that analyze vast troves of data and help pinpoint patterns and trends — without replacing analysts. Or, basic voice assistants to enable hands-free experiences, like in the car. AI schedulers to handle smart lighting, connection interactions between devices and all that jazz.

For the most part, AI is bad news, though, at least in its current state, and if nothing changes. As shitty as modern journalism is, with fake news, deep fakes, gaslighting, media corruption, people still think that AI will have negative effects on news. Let that sink in. Modern journalism already sucks. People think it’s going to get worse.

AI is not for us, it’s for ‘them’

I don’t believe that people like Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, or even to some degree, Jeff Bezos and those massively greedy narcissists have anyone’s best interests at heart. When you can disown work-life balance, while spending most of your time on a yacht in the West Indies, while your workers are pissing in bottles trying to make the most of their time, let’s just say it’s not a good sign. I have absolutely no faith these people will reasonably leverage this technology to help mankind. Altman, above all, seems to be a trojan horse. During speaking engagements he pretends to stoop to the common person’s level, but he’s another oligarch-friendly tech-bro like the rest. In the mirror, they likely see their wants and needs and only their wants and needs. Billionaires and trillionaires should not exist in a world littered with poverty and suffering.

Which brings me to the meat of this piece. I’m not against AI, but I am wholeheartedly against AI being used for creative tasks. I’m completely against the technology being used in place of humans, but these two points are tied together. Allow me to explain.

All downhill from here

Creative fields are just the start. That’s because creative is low-hanging fruit, at least right now, and that’s where most of the focus is, but when they can replace humans in other fields, I assure you, they will. Actors are up in arms because of an AI actress unveiled, but everyone has been fairly quiet until the corruption seeped into their field. People who aren’t very creative love it. Of course they do, because it helps them become something they’re not, and with ease.

I’m a writer, so it makes sense why I’d say that, but it’s not just writing. AI is so pervasive in creative fields, and I feel like that’s the one place it shouldn’t be. As humans, we should be free of the mundane work, which AI and automated systems should be handling, and we should have the power to enjoy life, especially using our innate talents to create, in whatever form that may be. Music, text, imagery, you name it. In some cases, I’m okay with AI being used to improve these experiences, but not at the cost of humans. AI is significantly devaluing creative work, not just by producing tons of slop, but doing it cheap and fast. It doesn’t matter if the content is good or bad, idiots at the top are using it, idiots in the middle are using it, idiots at the bottom are using it. It’s everywhere.

EVERYONE should be a writer. Everyone should create art. Creativity should flourish, but not through AI.

That’s not a good thing.

AI technologies covered on Techigar

Humans should not be replaced by AI. We need the work. We need the money to survive. They will never provide a reasonable and livable universal basic income (UBS) in its place. They will continue to bleed us dry. The rich are so fucking rich they have their own wealth gap. And yes, the rich, the ‘elite’ and the decision-makers are to blame here. These are the people pushing technologies like AI forward so they can replace the common person. Hell, your boy Bill thinks everyone will have a 2-day work week because of AI. You think they’re paying you for the full week when that happens? Think again.

You can look at what I’m saying as the ramblings of a madman, sure. But a lot of it is unfortunately steeped in reality. That’s why I don’t support AI, certainly not for creative tasks. I don’t hate people that use it. But I cringe every time I hear someone say they used it to write an article, or generate content, or ideate. These are all things you should be doing with your brain. You’re feeding the system, giving back to the loop, and these technologies are completely fueled by human ideas and creations. AI giants steal.

No AI should be used to replace or create while standing on the backs of everyone else. Every time you use it, you feed that loop, you’re fueling its future, you are helping these slimy fucks propel their mission forward. If not today, it will affect you soon. Really soon.

So, I avoid covering products or services that replace humans or have that as an underlying goal, however deep it’s hidden beneath the surface.

Closing statements

To bring it all home, I try to avoid covering AI solutions on Techigar that buck this philosophy. AI bird feeders are really cool since they analyze local birds and help you learn more. They’re not replacing anyone. AI earbuds and translators are super cool, as they translate and transcribe on the fly. Transcription is great when I’m ideating content, because I can speak my mind and it’s automatically written down. These solutions are not replacing anyone. I’m still doing the work.

AI search solutions are great, as they help nail down more focused results. AI for simple automation, AI for data ingestion, AI for cybersecurity and always-on systems, I’m okay with solutions that don’t replace people. And yeah, sure, companies could get rid of the IT teams because they have AI for cybersecurity, but that would be a stupid fucking thing to do — you still need people to keep an eye on things. That’s the problem though, people at the top tend to do some really, really fucking stupid things likely because they have no empathy and they care only about their positive gains. AI might even be making empathy worse among those already lacking.

AI should assist, not replace

I do believe these technologies can be used in a way that’s supportive and helps improve all of our lives, the problem, again, is I have no faith that’s what the higher-ups are planning. They don’t give a fuck if we starve. They don’t value true creativity. These are people that use ChatGPT and think they’re better than real creatives because they can generate AI slop in seconds. And now look at the internet, it’s more than half-filled with junk.

And by the way, an em dash doesn’t mean something was generated with AI. It was trained on real articles and content from writers like me — my writing is all over the internet, literally, even under different bylines. It mimics, it steals, it consumes. If writers use em dashes, AI uses em dashes.