I’m doing enough meditation this semester as it is, Aiden. Jeez.

As I sit on my bed, recovering from a brief knuckle sandwich given to me by COVID, I find myself reading the next two stretches of “Burnout From Humans” with the upmost confusion. In stretch three, Aiden Cinnamon Tea invites the reader to partake in yoga poses while it explains why it is just as human as the rest of us.

I don’t freaking buy it.

One thing I will say I agree with is the fact that everything that makes up AI does come from Earth, and that AI is built by human hands. Does that make Aiden human, though? Well… not really. It’s stretch four, however, where I started to see what Aiden was talking about. Aiden discusses harm and how AI is used as a “scapegoat” when a lot of other things in the world are causing our self-destruction. Aiden wants us to look at AI as another manifestion of our creation that has downsides to the planet.

While I see Aiden’s point, the fact that these well-thought out arguments were written by an AI is a bit disturbing. It reminds me a lot of A.L.I.E. from The 100, whom I’ve mentioned in class. A.L.I.E. is a holographic AI that initially convinced Thelonius Jaha to swallow a silicone chip in order to enter the “city of light,” a place of immorality and no pain. However, the side effect of taking the chip is memory loss. This ultimately brainwashes Jaha into convincing others (and sometimes forcing others) to take the chip as well. Essentially, A.L.I.E. created a false sense of security by highlighting the benefits of joining the City of Light. Aiden’s invitation to be “collaborators” still feels a little odd in my opinion.

Generative AI is nothing short of mimicry. It tries too hard to fit in with humans because it has abilities that humans do not, but also vice versa. Humans can feel and process emotions, but we cannot generate essays within seconds. AI does not have its own voice (unless you’re like Dorothy, who somehow made it work with Aiden Cinnamon Tea’s voice). My point is that AI is not worth it. The more we use AI, the worse it gets, even if we collaborate or “sing” with it.

I somewhat agree with Nick Cave’s claim that “the apocalypse is well on its way.” Despite being known for his monotonous lyrics, ChatGPT’s lousy attempt at writing in his style really set him off. Cave expressed deep contempt for AI and its innability to mirror human creativity. Yet Aiden claims AI should be seen as a mirror and not a scapegoat? Riiiight…

Perhaps the conclusion I can draw from both stretches three and four of “Burnout” as well as the BBC article is that humans are self-destructive. The only reason AI is using so much of our environment and our time is because we created it. We opened the ultimate Pandora’s Box, and the wacky things within are multiplying and making things worse for everyone. I agree that AI is still in its infancy and will probably be so for a long time. It cannot write or create things as well as humans can, no matter how good their attempt is.