They’re trying to make us worse. These billionaire generative AI corporations reap profits by making us worse human beings.
A disturbing tweet from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman suggests that parents input their children’s preferences and routines into ChatGPT to create a personalized bot podcast for their morning school commute.
Alex Hirsch, the creator of Gravity Falls, responded with a viral tweet: “What if you just talked to your children?”
It’s a surreal comment to feel compelled to make, yet here we are.
These billionaire AI firms aim to degrade us. Their profits come from diminishing our humanity.
Their goal is to strip away our humanity—our connections, creativity, capabilities, wisdom, and intelligence. They want to erode our skills in speaking, writing, researching, relating, artistic expression, music-making, and building deep bonds with loved ones, then offer these experiences back through chatbot interfaces.
Their entire business revolves around turning us into dependent, self-absorbed individuals unable to manage our own lives or relationships, while positioning themselves as the aid we “need” for these self-imposed deficiencies.
What’s really being sold isn’t just the chatbot. The true commodity is relief from mental and emotional challenges—the discomfort of acquiring new skills, personal development, taking risks, overcoming blank pages, empathizing with others, interacting socially, and venturing into uncertainty.
Yet, all the richest parts of life require enduring discomfort. Love. Romance. Intimacy. Art. Creativity. Growth. Healing. Surpassing limits. Releasing the ego facade. These treasures lie beyond hardship, and avoiding discomfort means avoiding a truly satisfying human existence.
This is precisely the path these chatbot companies want us to follow—retreating into emotional and intellectual immaturity so they can market digital crutches for the essential parts of ourselves we’ve surrendered.
We cannot allow this to happen. We must preserve our humanity and protect the invaluable traits they seek to commodify.
Let’s commit to staying human.
Let’s confront discomfort.
Let’s face our fears.
Let’s take risks.
Let’s tell our crushes how we feel.
Let’s share that first kiss.
Let’s experience heartbreak.
Let’s read that book.
Let’s craft poetry.
Let’s learn to draw.
Let’s learn to surf.
Let’s pick up the saxophone.
Let’s explore all sorts of new skills.
Let’s deepen our understanding of those around us.
Let’s nurture our relationships.
Let’s heal our wounds.
Let’s strive to become better versions of ourselves.
Let’s root ourselves in the earth and fully appreciate the wonder of our physical existence in every moment.
They aim to detach us from our humanity, so we must dive ever deeper into it.
Amid increasing dystopia, holding onto your humanity is a revolutionary act.
Original article: caitlinjohnstone.com.au
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