Recently, I watched a video by Colin & Samir speaking about a situation Hank Green is currently facing. Hank was recently accused of using AI in a video script because he said the words “I appreciate the pushback.” Hank went on to address not only that particular video but also transparently explained his AI usage. Even with that transparency, there was backlash. Long-time followers of Hank were distraught because they believed Hank was getting lazy and not thinking for himself. But I picked up on something very small in the video, a small pause between the words “use” and “AI”.
I can’t know for sure if that pause was deliberate but something triggered in my brain that reminded me of how we call folks who partake in medicinal substances “users”. The connotation of a drug “user” is often negative but it gave me a better understanding of what’s going on with some analogies to how drugs exist in society today.
On maturity
I’d like to think my relationship with drugs is fairly normal. The only recreational substance I’ve ever done is alcohol and only ever socially. I have a solid self-discipline that doesn’t give in easily to peer pressure. I also don’t immediately reach for drugs just for minor inconveniences nor do I believe pumping myself with antibiotics is a good idea since your body then depends on that over time. However, it doesn’t mean I’ve never taken drugs. I’ve taken stuff for headaches and more significant ones when prescribed.
Importantly, this is only my experience. I know there’s a large spectrum out there, from folks who are straight-edge and haven’t done anything to folks who could be considered junkies. There’s folks that take drugs to regulate their own issues, and folks who want to try new experiences. There’s all kinds of people with all kinds of backgrounds, beliefs, and situations they are going through.
On addiction
When you look at AI in the same lens, I think the bottom line is addiction. If you are in a situation where you cannot function without AI, this is a dependence that you don’t want to have. We’re seeing a lot of AI slop because people have an addiction. It’s basically a super performance enhancing drug that anyone can use. As Uncle Ben says to Peter Parker: “With great power comes great responsibility.” There are many people who are irresponsible with AI and cannot self-regulate. Some of these folks are in leadership positions that affect the livelihood of the folks around them. This is the challenge that society is facing today. I think we need to address this in the same way we might address someone who is abusing substances.
It takes a big person to recognize when they have a problem, and otherwise it’ll take help from others for folks to realize their abuse. It’s not healthy if you’ve thrown out all of your processes and experts in favor of the dopamine hit that AI will give you. You have to use it with self-control. I’m seeing some of the effects in peers, where token limits are being constrained. These folks feel helpless without it because they relied too heavily on the dependency.
On shame
By the same token, I don’t think it’s right to chastise someone for using AI. I feel this is akin to straight-edge folks who look down upon people recreationally drinking or vegetarians scolding meat-eaters. I don’t see AI as inherently bad. I think there’s good qualities to AI. An example I think about all the time is trying to understand how to get something done in a new tool. Before AI, I’d search on the Internet for something like creating an image mask in Affinity, only to find forum posts with people arguing about the best way to do it or YouTube videos that spend 10 minutes introducing themselves and the tool. Having something that cuts through all of the fat to unblock you is helpful. Especially if you are in the creative flow. Just think of all the times you had to side quest and get distracted from the main task because people put up unnecessary barriers to farm engagement or unknowingly tangent from the purpose. You’re still in learning mode, just with less friction.
For full transparency, each of the posts here on the blog has a random animal illustration associated with it. Each of these is generated with AI and has been for years. The animal images provide no value to the blog beyond matching the parody motif of the website’s design. If I wasn’t able to generate the drawings, it just means I might need to pivot. I’d have to weigh out the importance of continuing the style over the amount of time it would take to draw these animals myself. If I found that it isn’t worth it, which is likely the case, I’d just redesign the website. AI doesn’t define what I do, or drive the content on the site. I’m still writing every word by hand. That’s the value here. There’s areas where AI is helping. I see this the same as taking an Advil to get rid of a headache quickly instead of wasting time trying to sleep it off.
As another example, I’ve just started a newsletter at Design Systems House. While the short sentences found in the newsletter are AI generated, the links found inside are not. I could just send you a sterile list of links with zero AI involvement or I could dress them up with something that summarizes what you are getting; helping you determine if the link is worth your time to read without clicking it. Am I lazy for having AI summarize the links? Maybe. Or maybe I prefer redirecting my energy to the projects I’m sharing in that news.
I have empathy for users people. I care about the things I’m making and I think about how they affect people. I can’t please everyone, but I have confidence that my use of AI isn’t addiction. Maybe that’s exactly what an addict would say. But I do believe if AI were to disappear tomorrow, I could continue being creative because I’ve always had those skills. Not the Markdown files, the real expertise that I’ve gained through learning. I value being able to do this stuff no matter what.
Prompt responsibly.