AI Is Ruining Everything

AI Is Ruining Everything (But Maybe It’s Our Fault)

Anyone else remember the early days of Facebook? Back when we were all wide-eyed and hopeful, convinced social media would connect the world and make us smarter, kinder, maybe even better-looking? Every few months, Facebook would roll out some massive update — new buttons, new features, a brand-new layout that felt like walking into your own house and finding someone had moved all the walls.

And then, right on cue, the “I Liked the Old Facebook Better” groups would pop up by the hundreds. Thousands of us joined, complained, and swore we’d never adapt. Six months later, those same people were complaining about the new update and wishing for the version they’d just spent months hating. The circle of tech life.

That’s where we are with AI now.

AI is evolving faster than we can finish our morning coffee. Every company, website, and gadget seems to be in a panic-fueled sprint to jam “AI” into everything — whether it belongs there or not. It’s like Oprah’s giving it away: “You get an AI! You get an AI! Everybody gets an AI!”

Everywhere you go, there’s a proud little pop-up declaring, “Now with AI!” You can’t turn it off, can’t opt out, can’t even make eye contact with a website without being told it’s “powered by AI.” Does it make anything better? Not really. But does it make the marketing team feel futuristic? Absolutely.

And honestly, it’s not just companies doing this. We’re all a little guilty.

I sat in on a sales call recently where the potential customer, after watching a flawless demo, asked, “Does your system have AI?” The rep asked what kind of AI he wanted. The customer shrugged. “I don’t know. I just want it to have AI.” They went in circles for five minutes — a human conversation that sounded suspiciously like two chatbots talking to each other — until the customer finally said he wouldn’t buy it. Not because it didn’t work. Because it didn’t have “AI.”

So here we are, all of us trapped in the world’s biggest invisible Facebook group: “I Liked the Old Internet Better.” We complain about how AI is taking over, even as we use it every day. And just like those old Facebook users, we secretly know there’s no going back.

AI’s here for good — lurking in our apps, in our photos, probably in our coffee machines. Hopefully one day companies will stop tossing AI into everything just because they can and start using it to actually make life a little better.

Until then, if anyone finds the “turn off AI” button, please DM me. I’ll be over here clicking “Remind Me Later.”