Recently, I went to the doctor’s office to get my blood drawn. While I sat on a dull cushioned chair and tried not to stare at the crimson liquid swirling into meticulously labeled vials, the nurse kept me conscious by engaging in conversation. After cycling through the typical school/major/career plan questions, she paused and asked me what I thought about AI. I told her that I hate it. This is why:
Artificial intelligence has nothing to give you. It does not give; it takes. AI steals the work of artists and academics and corrupts it until you can never be certain what is true or where its claims originated from. It steals the soul out of art and leaves it hollow – music devoid of emotion, portraits with lifeless eyes. It siphons water from our earth and years from our lifespans. It takes jobs from writers and actors and even, as my nurse informed me, doctors. Subtler but just as significant of a threat is the human connection it’s robbing you of: the pharmacy technician, your eye doctor, the friend whose brain you pick when you have a question on their niche interest or the older sibling you seek out for advice.
ChatGPT is not your friend. You can give it a nickname and talk to it all you want, but that does not change the fact that it is a machine. It’s not your fault that you feel this way. Humans evolved to be empathetic. The corporations behind artificial intelligence know this. But unlike growing attached to a childhood teddy bear or pet rock, becoming attached to ChatGPT has detrimental impacts. Constant communication with AI has been proven to increase loneliness and worsen real-world social skills. Intense engagement with AI chatbots has led to delusional thinking, further isolation and suicidal thoughts. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is under fire for removing safeguards surrounding discussions of self-harm and aiding a teenager’s suicide. It might seem like an easy fix for connection, but the truth is that AI will never come close to the comfort or character of a real person.
Humans are linked because we all bleed red. Artificial intelligence does not bleed anything but smoke and false promises. It cannot care for you. It provides an illusion of servitude, but it does not really serve you whatsoever. AI is not your slave; it is the conspiring advisor with a knife poised at your back. The corporations that create artificial intelligence do not love you. The machines do not love you. Real love comes from your community, from creating and connecting. The second you quit using chatbots and generative AI for good, this will become increasingly obvious.
They say it takes a village to raise a child, but nowadays people barely know their next-door neighbors. We have the power to fix that. From small talk with a grocery store cashier to midnight vent sessions with your best friends, the human brain thrives off interaction. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to seek it out.
Pick up a book from your local library instead of doing research through ChatGPT. Ask your grandparents to tell you stories about their childhoods, volunteer at an animal shelter and bake cookies for your neighbors across the hall. Instead of running that essay through a digital proofreader, ask your English major friend to look at it. Sure, it seems easier to get answers and assistance with the click of a button. Maybe you don’t want to burden your friends by asking for help with supposedly simple tasks, but the truth is that everyone else is just as reliant on connection. Just as we’re wired to empathize with objects, we’re wired to help each other out. The cure for the loneliness epidemic isn’t within our screens. It’s within each other.
Love thy neighbor, not AI.