My AI Manifesto
I loved the internet growing up.
My first computer was from MicroTek ( I think that’s how its spelled) and my dad and I sat infront of it trying to boot up Windows 98.
I didn’t do a lot with the computer as a child. When I was 3, my school would make us learn the alphabets and my mom showed me how to open up Excel and type them out. It was really fun. And I kept up this habit of using Excel well into my later single digit years.
Computers were fun even though I didn’t do a lot.
The internet was fun even though I didn’t use it a lot.
I’d read answers on Quora, on Reddit, even on Wattpad. There was a time when I’d stay up all night reading stuff on /nosleep wondering if it was all real.
It felt real to me. These were written by people and I felt like they were letting me rummage through their minds. Their jokes would make me laugh, their scary stories would keep me up at night. I’d watch videos of comedians on youtube and try to mimic their intonation. I learned how to relax and act more social, to speak with the cadence of someone tripping through his words but landing on his feet at the end. It brought me so much joy from within.
This is what being Human means to me. Feeling a one-ness with another person.
And AI has been butchering this feeling every day. Its chipping away at my love for reaching out and connecting with another person. When I read an article and feel the rhythm of AI, it makes me feel so queasy. The other person probably did have good points, they probably did want to communicate with the world and let everyone know who they were.
But this to me feels like wearing layers and layers of makeup and presenting yourself. Which some would argue is fine because that’s part of who they think they are and that opinion is fine by me but it isn’t my opinion.
I want to connect with who a person is. I might not know who they are even after spending years with them. They might not even know who they really are. But I will not know them if they hide behind the covers of AI.
Which is why I’m creating this AI manifesto.
None of the articles I write here are going to use AI. I currently write these in the Apple Notes app and if Notes ever ends up integrating and pushing AI in my face, I will stop using it and write these on a piece of paper and type it out before publishing it.
And if the internet ends up turning into a dystopian hodgepodge of AI slop, I will make paper airplanes of my notes and fly them out the window for the HUMANS to find.