I WROTE ESSAYS FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS AS A SIDE HUSTLE, NOW CH*TGPT HAS PUT ME OUT OF A JOB.

For legal reasons, the above statement is a lie. The message it conveys is more the point here.

I will never use an ‘AI’ program to create anything for me, ever. Not because I’m better than you, or because I think I’m some kind of tech altruist, but because I think it’s designed to replace you in the workforce. Not just customer service reps, lawyers, and accountants. It will replace the things we once looked to one another for. It will replace even more of the things we once looked to one another for. Here’s some fun scenarios

A 5th-grader will pull out his iPad, and ask Ch*tGPT to write his book report.

A person dies of a fatal condition because the Google AI Summary they trusted was blatantly wrong.

Because remember, they never learned reading comprehension.

A small business uses AI to create an event poster, instead of paying a local artist or graphic designer to make one.

I’m not even concerned about the ‘cost’ aspect of that one, I’m concerned about the lack of connections involved. Communities thrive because of the interconnectedness of the individuals within it. The more and more we find ourselves going to a computer rather than another person, the more I fear we’ll all eternally misunderstand each other. The more we’re going to find ourselves divided and alone. That doesn’t even touch the other half of that argument, where the program is aggregating and essentially ripping off real artists. That’s it’s own ethical conversation where ‘intellectual property’ gets a bit grey.

Years ago I swore off ever ordering anything from Amazon, on the absolute fact that it single-handedly kills community. I recently took on the endeavor of fixing my own dryer after the belt snapped, and the only place I could seem to find the replacement belt was on the internet. Amazon had it in stock, and could get it to me in just 6!! days!! I then saw beneath the swath of paid ad results that span 3/4 of the page, a result for ‘APED Appliance Parts’. It was right down the street, and they didn’t even have a website. I called the phone number and the employee answered, confirmed he had the part I needed, and I rode my bike 2 miles down the road and picked it up. My dryer was fixed that night, and more than that I had a conversation with another human being. The guy at the counter cracked a joke, his coworker cracks up behind him, and then me and the other customer there all shared a laugh.

I paid $4 more for that dryer belt. I don’t care. I experienced a sliver of community most people deem ‘too much effort’.

“But I don’t have those stores where I live!!”

Spoiler alert: It’s because everyone in your town started ordering things off the internet and killed those businesses.

I had an excellent experience at a small local business and now I’m sharing this with you, maybe now when you need a dryer belt or any other appliance part you’ll give them a call (provided you live in Santa Cruz). This is another part of that connection, the sharing of, and uplifting of others in the community. That’s important, that fulfills some need we have as human beings.

Taking the roundabout back to what AI has to do with this, anything your computer can do— I guarantee a member of your community can do better. You just might make a connection with another person too, imagine that.

Communities are awesome, and they’re only made that way by the people in them. You have the power of connection as a human being and you can use that to do super sweet stuff. Drink beer and watch bikes with other bike nerds? Absolutely. There’s artists and lawyers and customer service reps in that community. I want them to stay there, so I’ll do everything I can to make sure they don’t get replaced by money-motivated computers who do a half-ass job.

Do yourself a favor, write your own damn email.