The landscape of the internet is always changing. I know that, you know that, and artificial intelligence knows that.
This has been a reality of going online since the web was created, but it seems like recent changes are happening at an alarmingly fast pace. Around every virtual corner, you’ll find something made by artificial intelligence (AI). Whether you’re looking at a computer-generated image, talking to a chatbot, or receiving search results, machines are trying to recreate the human experience.
If you follow the news — particularly with the buzz around Apple Intelligence — you’re probably starting to feel like AI is the future of technology. And you’re probably right, but in the present, most uses feel underdeveloped. Beta tools are being shoved in our faces, and in most cases, it’s quite obvious.
It often feels like AI is being offered to solve problems that didn’t exist. While it can enhance productivity, most users feel trepidatious toward these tools, and there’s a good reason. They can navigate computer problems, but they don’t understand what it means to be human.
There seems to be a lot of confusion around AI, but once you see it in use, it doesn’t seem that innovative. Many of the most common uses aren’t anything new and they’re very obvious. In fact, if you’re a member of Gen X, Millennials, or Gen Z, it feels like you’ve been training to spot AI for ages.
Over half of Americans would rather avoid AI, and as it’s continuously being forced on us, it’s easy to understand why people don’t like these “innovations.”
AI serves as a stopgap
Imagine calling a company for customer support. Before you talk to a human, you need to listen to half a dozen voice messages and use the keypad to answer them. When looking for support online, AI chatbots are the virtual equivalent of those phone systems.
These chatbots might be helpful if you have a simple question — but if you’re talking to the chatbot you have the internet. You’ll likely Google your question and turn to customer support as a last resort.
Of course, employing and training customer support can be tough, so it’s tempting to weed out questions using a chatbot. But as a customer, the last thing you want is to face a digital barrier to find a resolution. For example, Amazon Rufus aims to be a highly intelligent bot that can respond to questions. This service can certainly help connect customers to resources, but it can also slow down the customer support process. While Amazon wants us to believe this is a tool, there’s no denying that the added barrier will cause some customers to stop receiving support and live with their problems.
There are tell-tale signs of AI art
Using AI to generate images is like a dream come true — quite literally. It can be a lifesaver if you want a visual representation of an idea, but these visuals can be a bit too perfect. Background details get flushed out and the main subject is emphasized — kind of like you’re dreaming.
Many artists feel there’s a lack of depth and variety that makes it easy to identify AI-generated images. When you’re looking for an image, and any image of the subject will do, AI might be fine. But when you rely on machines to make artwork, it will feel formulaic and uninspired.
Many adults grew up in a generation of Photoshop in magazines, and readers quickly learned to spot digital enhancements. Other people grew up playing with Snapchat and Instagram filters, so they know default settings when applied. So, don’t think you’ll be tricking anyone by calling AI digital art. At its best, it’s just a generic, digital representation of an object or scene.
It’s often very wrong
Next time you Google something, be on the lookout for AI Overview. If you ask a question, it will crawl the internet and try to find an answer. Often, it works just fine (it correctly told me the location of the Taj Mahal), but sometimes that data is slightly off or dead wrong.
I asked Google the cost of attending NYU, and AI Overview led with 2023–2024 data, but the top organic search results found 2024–2025 numbers (the current academic year). This is a slight miss, but I have made other searches that have yielded far less accurate data. In my case, I asked for information about a specific office only to be given data for a similarly named office in a different building.
Admittedly, these are beta features and they haven’t been promoted as anything better than that. And, you can turn them off. But, it’s odd that Google would display its buggy system so prominently, burying its standard search results. Other websites do the same thing, making AI another annoyance that users need to turn off before returning to their regular activity.
It sounds like a computer
There are many uses for AI services like ChatGPT, but writers feel particularly threatened. Likely, this was because many outlets discussed it as a solution during the 2023 writers’ strike, but AI has been able to study and reproduce text for years.
Some people have used AI to produce written content, and so far, the results have been underwhelming. Generally, it can take phrases and ideas and string them together, but it can sound clunky. Often, AI doesn’t write sentences correctly, adds too much context, or overlooks recent information. But the biggest issue is that a machine isn’t going to convey emotion in the same way a computer does, and the reader can tell.
As it stands, AI isn’t in the position to take over writing gigs any time soon. At its best, it will generate a decent outline of an article. Then, the writer will likely spend just as much time editing and reformatting that text as they would have spent writing the actual article.
AI just feels like a buzzword
There’s no doubt that AI and machine learning has massive potential, but unless you’re working in the industry, you’re only seeing a limited number of uses for the technology. More likely, you’re not impressed with what you’re seeing. At the same time, there’s no shortage of articles claiming AI will change the world — yet all you see is a chatbox struggling to respond to basic customer service questions.
It often feels discussions of AI are fueled by what it could do or its future impact on technology. Right now, the average consumer isn’t interacting with revolutionary technology. Between poorly generated photos and incorrect search results, many users are convinced that AI is nothing without the humans operating it.
We know many AI-generated services we use are in their beta phases. It might only take one revolutionary product to transform the public’s opinion on AI, and Apple Intelligence seems to want to be that invention. But until that day comes, most consumers who engage with the technology will do it through a skeptical lens.
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