Artificial intelligence was supposed to make life easier. That is the promise to free us from repetitive tasks, open new frontiers of creativity, and expand human potential. However, lately for many of us, that promise feels hollow. Instead of empowerment, AI even in its infancy often feels like an encroaching shadow automating the work we once took pride in, distorting the reality we once trusted, and sapping the motivation that once gave our days purpose.
In a thousand small ways, AI is already replacing us. Customer service representatives are being swapped for chatbots. Artists, writers, and designers are seeing their jobs swallowed by text and image generators. Coders watch AI produce in seconds what used to take them hours. Even the creative professions once thought to be uniquely human are under siege.
What’s most demoralizing is the speed. In past industrial revolutions, technological change took decades to reshape the workforce. This one is happening in real time. Job titles disappear almost overnight; roles are “streamlined” before people can even adapt. For many, it’s not just a paycheck that’s at stake it’s identity. We build our sense of worth around what we do. When machines can do it better, cheaper, and faster, where does that leave us?
Meanwhile, AI-generated videos, voices, and images blur the line between truth and fabrication. Deepfakes can make anyone say anything. News outlets compete with synthetic influencers that never age, never tire, and never make mistakes except the ones programmed into them which is so dystopian. Think about it. Reality itself feels less reliable. We used to believe what we saw. Now, every image comes with a silent question, Is it real? The collective trust that holds society together in evidence, in testimony, in what our eyes can confirm is eroding. When even authenticity can be faked, the world starts to feel hollow.
I’m trying not to be an alarmist or cynical, but it’s just how I’m feeling at the moment.