AI: a tumor or a tool abused?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a tumor lying in plain sight. Yet, it lays undetected. For it plagues humanity’s proverbial body, which is defined by the majority. And to them, it is simply a tool that makes their work more efficient and, increasingly often, does it for them.

To them, it is benign. But, that only holds true due to a lack of care. 

Within Seconds

A simple question asked and answered. The web scoured and presented. A presentation needed and made. An idea thought and expanded. All within seconds. But, the ease that brought wasn’t enough. As is true with all profitable things, AI was pushed further. 

A story outlined, then written. An image described, then spawned. A note played, then sung. A work only begun, then finished. All within seconds. And if the issue isn’t paralysing you with its glare yet, you must have not asked a simple question — who fed the monster?

We all did as a matter of fact. And not just us. Even those dead. For their work lives on in the perennial internet. That’s where ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Gemini, and whatever other AI assistant is born in the coming months, steals it from. 

Pieces of people’s various works are cut without their knowledge, without their consent, and without any credit. Then, with the affected guile of a magician and the precision of a surgeon, AI stitches it together to make one amalgamation. It’s both a pale imitation and a crude diminution of the creative process.

An artist is influenced and shaped by practitioners of the past. They are inspired and rejuvenated by their contemporaries today. It is a learning process by which they absorb the world around them; different elements, techniques, and perspectives soaking into their psyche. But that is just the prologue. The story they bring to life is their own. 

It is through their own unique lens, crafted by their own unique journey, that their own unique vision can be seen. It is through their own unique brush, trimmed by their own unique trials, that their own unique art is animated. 

That is the key difference between an AI creation and that of a person. There is no transformation being had. The product of AI will always be plastic art, devoid of any depth. 

And yet, with everyday that passes, AI is reified as an indelible part of our future. With each use, it permeates further into the zeitgeist. All because of its ease of use and the ease it brings. 

But remember, it is a tumor. And if it hasn’t already, the signs of illness will soon become ever apparent. 

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Coherence

The quality of work AI produces, put kindly, is poor. Its written productions, fraught with redundancy and contradictions, struggle to maintain a sense of coherence. It attempts to mitigate this dissonance with the flailing obstinacy of a child snared in the losing side of an argument, bridging gaps in the existing literature with unsubstantiated claims. And those claims will be attributed to people who never existed. 

All in all, misinformation runs rampant in its responses, and in turn, within us. 

Yet, its true shortcomings glow in the dark where a human touch should shine. The lived experiences of a journalist, informing best practices and the structure of their articles, are imperceptible to AI. The flair of a novelist, excavated by their inclinations before it builds their tone, are grammatical mistakes. 

Nuance is what AI lacks, for it never lived to learn it. 

This point is perhaps best illustrated by pointing to AI’s illustrations. People are quick to expose AI art on social media, for they aren’t fooled by its mistakes presented as style. 

Bryan Charnley’s fantastical and despair-inducing self portraits stem from a lived reality. One in which emotions were felt and mental illness was suffered. What he was ran down his head, down his arms, and down his brush. Until his warped self was on canvas. 

AI art often comes out as a distorted version of reality as well. The myriad of images it crushes together don’t always line-up right. The different colours and strokes don’t always gel. 

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Stunted Growth

But, AI can learn, as is the whole point of it. It can learn those best practices. It can adopt that flair. Maybe it could even infer the misery that influenced Charnley’s work. Yet, to do so would only serve one purpose. Efficiency of the conglomerates. 

That may be the very reason we see its prominence. Its use a necessity, due to the demands of the powers that be. I can attest to as much in the media. The use of AI is allowed. Even encouraged.

Because AI allows for more work, done faster than before. Without demanding more of the workers. And soon they will realise more isn’t needed. They can do with less. Less workers, more AI. Less costs, more profit.

Organisations are turning a blind eye to the ethical considerations. The misinformation. The plagiarism. Whose thoughts are being presented in the work published? It is no longer the journalist’s own. A concoction of perspectives diluted by the biases of whatever company or country determine the AI assistant’s permissions.

The devaluation of several professions seems inevitable. Yet, so few care. People are fine indulging themselves in AI, even as it stunts their own growth. AI is used professionally. It is used academically. It is used in every opportunity in which one could learn. We are teaching it to replace us. 

But, beyond our inevitable replacement stands another facet of the grim equation. The severed tether to our work that AI will cause. It is no longer our own. Thus, there is no longer any sense of achievement, nor fulfillment.That may be due to the aforementioned reasoning; to appease the expanding demands of those in power. Or maybe it tells a more despondent story. Maybe in the current climate, people are struggling to find gratification. And so, they are alienated from their work. 

But, such reasoning is ironic. For if they indulge today that tether will fray. And when they find joy in something tomorrow, they will not be needed. 

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A Tool Abused

That dire future is not the fault of AI itself. It’s our abuse of the tools it provides. It is used in its totality. Everything that can be done, must be done. As we are slaves to our curiosity, as we strive for peak productivity. Yet again, that is not the fault of AI. This entire piece has not been a critique of it. Rather, us. 

A concept lost and found. A topic broad, then narrowed. An interest established and developed. A facet hidden, then considered. All within seconds. There are uses for AI that can increase our productivity. The issue lies in our restraint. 

And the solution is restrictions. Guidelines, whether established by legislation or within the permissions of the software itself, limiting what can be done. But that won’t happen any time soon. For the trigger that sends us down this path is competition. If others are advancing at lightspeed thanks to this technology, then we must too. Or else, we risk being left behind.

Change will only come when AI becomes a detriment to our progress. When unemployment skyrockets in multiple sectors, leaving only AI development to thrive. 

In other words, when we lose our purpose and realise we need it. 

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