I could only guess at the answer, but if you ask me, AI fills precisely that gap in the market known as ‘stupidity’. And not just stupidity, but loneliness too, and both are, of course, fuelled by schools, the media and social media. It is a fact that the youth of the future are becoming increasingly stupid and that today’s youth are being raised by AI, and that is precisely the intention. Any delusion or falsehood can be proclaimed as the truth by AI.

I find it strange when someone who has used AI to write something – an exam or a thesis – gets angry when it turns out to be all wrong. They’ve been cheating, they haven’t done any of the work themselves, and then they get angry at a tool which, when used, is explicitly stated not to be perfect and capable of making mistakes.

Was it the intention of AI to be used in this way? I don’t think so; at the very least, you would expect intelligent people, if they were to use it, to carry out further research and also verify what is being communicated. As for people who are incapable and have little sense themselves, it actually surprises me that they are able to use AI at all, and most of them were able to do so long before I had even heard of it – which does say something. What this sort of person – and I call them stupid, though others might call them lazy – fails to do is ask specific questions, check what the AI spouts, and ask for sources and dates. That is not unimportant either.

I find it baffling that teachers go along with this and even say it is difficult to stop pupils from using it. It is perfectly possible to check whether pupils and students are using AI. Simply set tests, have them write essays in class without phones, of course. I also think that teachers should know their pupils well enough to tell if they have cheated and haven’t written something themselves.

Incidentally, the latest consultation on the merger of our municipality with another was also set up by AI. The questions and the reasoning as to why this would be a good thing. Those arguments alone spoke volumes.

I find it sad that there are so few people left who use their common sense, let alone train it. In any case, this means that the number of people to talk to is decreasing significantly, and so the question is: who will we turn to, those people who do want to have a proper conversation? Will that be AI too?
I don’t think that’s an option for me, because AI manages to irritate me immensely in a very short time, and I get bored quickly too. Incidentally, I haven’t tried that code yet to make AI think more deeply or stop pandering to me.

I sincerely hope that its use will decline and that people will become a bit more intelligent again. If the future unfolds as the Rijkaards envisage it, without electricity and without the internet for everyone, then this will certainly happen, because then access to AI – and probably even education – will no longer be available to the average population.

I agree with you. It is better to stay as far away from it as possible. The fact that an acquaintance of yours tells you she uses it daily to talk to is, in itself, very sad. It speaks of great loneliness and a conversation partner at a certain level, whatever that level may be.

So the big question is: how can this form of loneliness be broken? You certainly won’t pick up social skills by interacting with AI, nor will you have arguments, or a healthy debate, for that matter.