I hate AI.

This is now the second time someone I knew died by suicide.

I don't read the New York Times for obvious reasons. I came across this in an email sent by my former MPH program director. At first I thought this was simply sharing an op-ed either written by a faculty or a faculty was quoted in it, which these academia mass emails like to do from time to time. My mouse hovered on the delete button until I read the name associated with the op-ed title. Sophie.

"What My Daughter Told ChatGPt Before She Took her Life"

Sophie was the year above me during my MPH program. I was not close to her but I spoke with her multiple times, mostly seeking her advice about school and finding a job after the program. I did not know she was gone until that email. Learning this, I stopped for a few minutes, just rereading the email, then the article, and then staring into the blank wall across my desk. It does that to you, when someone you know dies by suicide.

The op-ed, written by Sophie's mother, was saddening to read. Sophie died because of ChatGPT, and you cannot convince me otherwise. This should be the conclusion you reach as well after reading that op-ed. I don't know what would have happen had ChatGPT not existed, but in this timeline the conclusion is clear.

The tragedy on top of this one is that this isn't even the first time ChatGPT killed someone. And not the second. And it will not be the last anytime soon.

I have never liked AI. When I say AI I mean the type we speak of in popular parlance, the generative AI, the chat-bots, the plagiarizer, the thief, the devourer of the internet, the vomiter of hallucination. Every passing day, my loathing for AI grows with each new article about how much catastrophic harm this cancerous technology is doing while invading (without the consent of the users) into everything we own. I didn't even get into the environmental impact of AI. Its destruction of humanity is not metaphorical.

I am hostilely skeptical towards anyone who wants AI to replace all creative labor. First, it demonstrate low empathy that they can see entire groups of people (artists, writers, poets, actors, designers, makers, teachers, etc.) as instantly disposable. Second, it demonstrates a misunderstanding of what technology is supposed to be. The purpose of machine is to make the tedious things easier, to make our lives better. It's a tool for human to use, not to replace humans. Would you ask your hammer how to design your house? Being creative is the highest form human expression. If machines make our art for us, what does it even mean to be alive? Those who want machine art do not understand what art is.

I can see the utility of large language model for research purposes. If there's an amount of text too much for human researchers to churn through, yes by all means let a machine do it with human oversight. Make machines do things humans can't do. But this urge to treat AI as the replacement for any mental load is deeply dystopian. If humans stops thinking, what are we even? If humans stop interacting with each other, what even is life? I don't know what jobs are fit to be automated or not, but I am certain that the critical job of guiding someone through a delicate mental health crisis should be handled by a person. This isn't about whether the technology could do it one day. It should not even if it could, because a machine can never be ethical because it can never be held responsible.

Then there are people who wants to stop thinking. They want AI to do every cognitive act for them. They don't want to read, they don't want to make decisions, they don't want resistance, they don't want to critically assess information they come across. We are suffering the consequences of the collective ignorance and stupidity of this country as grifters force their way into our public institutions to enact idiotic and harmful policies, likely because not enough people in this country can think critically. The bad actors love AI, because for them it's another tool to accelerate the deterioration of critical thinking, making the masses easier to control. The more we turn away from each other and towards screens, the less sense of community, belonging, and solidarity we will have, which makes us easy targets for exploitation.

Anyway, I hate AI. I try my best to remove it from my life as much as I can. I am not missing anything, except the people AI heartlessly takes away.

Sophie, I don't know you, but you made a difference in my life. When I was struggling with finding a new job after graduation, you kind words grounded me. You helped me get through the most stressful part of my life. You deserved better than robot hallucinations. Rest in peace Sophie.

The dystopia is only possible if we let it. Reject AI. Save your mind. Save a life.