Most People Do Not Like AI
I wasn't going to write this. Well, actually, I wrote part of it in an email to Super Lemon, but then I saw Antonio's post and thought maybe I should respond publicly.
I know the feeling of thinking you're in a silo. I so strongly remember getting that feeling when I first realized that the internet looks completely different depending on who is looking. I fell down a dark hole of wondering whether I was simply deluded into thinking what I wanted to think regardless of the truth or validity of anything, then further wondering how I would be able to tell if that were the case. It's not a fun thing to grapple with.
So, aside from the majority of posts on Bear being anti-AI I give you outside evidence that people share your viewpoint. The Verge did a great piece analyzing and reporting on polling that shows 1) young people use AI at very high rates and 2) the more they use it the less they like it.
It's a good piece and I recommend that you read the whole thing. Here's the headline data though, from Gallup:
in a more recent Gallup poll, Gen Z’s opinion of AI tools hit a new low: Only 18 percent now say they are hopeful about the technology, down from 27 percent last year, and only 22 percent say they are excited, down from 36 percent.
The piece is focused on young people because they tend to be more open to new technology. There's a cliche that goes: whatever was invented before you turn 12 is natural and the way of the world. Whatever is invented between when you turn 12 and when you turn 30 is cool, new, and exiting. Whatever is invented after you turn 30 is questionable. Whatever is invented after you turn 40 is unnatural. Gen Z seems to be bucking this trend, being loudly and clearly anti-AI, whether anyone asked their opinion or no.
Yet they still use it. I think this is where people may feel unsure if they are reading the room correctly. People dislike and distrust AI, but they're still making it part of their lives. Why?
The Verge piece gives some answers to this question, but I can speak for myself here. I use AI extensively at work. Partially because it is actually good for automating some boring tasks that I'd rather not bother with, but another big part is because the powers that be high up in the corporate structure have all but said that using AI is a requirement of the job. We will be an AI native company, they say, and anyone who doesn't get on board will be left behind.
There's plenty to say on whether someone using a coding agent is actually building any new and valuable skill, but none of that will be said at work. The bosses have made their views plain, and there's nothing to be gained from contradicting them. Further, all you have to do is look around at the layoffs happening in tech and other industries, and you'll soon realize that it's a good idea to go through your token allowance every month. On my team we frequently gripe about how AI-pilled the executives are and clown the workers who seem to be playing up their AI use for political points, but we do this off the company network, from the safety of our group text.
All that said, not everyone is anti-AI and it's good to expose yourself to other viewpoints. Just don't feel like your own views are invalid, or if you are in any way alone in distrusting or hating AI. You're not. If nothing else I am right here with you.