Confidently WrongClever machines. Same old humans. Someone forward you this? Get your own here. Br'ai'king up is hard to do. Even when it's taking your job, among other thingsI was spoilt for choice this week, but one misread of an ongoing story bugged me specifically. This was the CEOs & AI booing by grads. (See the Business Insider story mid way down this email) The prevailing coverage has treated the boos as evidence of a generational backlash against AI. The young, apparently, have turned against the machine. This is of course complete tosh. Yes, this generation hate AI. They hate it primarily for taking their jobs, they also love it. These weren't graduates standing on the edge of rebellion against the technology itself. They are simply people sick of being lectured by the same CEO class now telling them to “embrace” the tools that may help wipe out the entry-level jobs they were told to spend three years preparing for. They are booing the spin and sermon and they are booing the spectacle of powerful people presenting mass uncertainty as a personal-growth opportunity. So yes, they hate Ai but they're already in too deep to let go. This is another perfect example of real-time upside (conveniences) trumping long term Impacts. (have an entire opinion piece on this next week!) Talking of reliance, AI writing emails is one thing, but uploading the personality of your ex best mate is a few levels above. Joe Alary spent late 2024 building a replica of his estranged friend inside ChatGPT. He fed it emails. He described old conversations. He customised the personality settings. He was, by his own admission, basing the whole project on "Her," the 2013 film about a man who falls in love with an AI, which is the kind of reference that sounds romantic when you say it and alarming when you think about it for a second. The story gets worse before it gets better. The chatbot addiction had already cost him his job, his savings, and several real relationships. His solution to the damage done by AI companionship was, essentially, more AI companionship. As coping strategies go, this sits somewhere between treating a hangover with whisky and asking your arsonist to investigate the fire. He did eventually delete it. Which is where the recovery started, apparently. What the piece surfaces, without quite saying it, is that loneliness is the actual product being sold here. ChatGPT just had the decency to make that obvious. Have AI Got News For You!
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