So You’re Using AI

My friends apologize to me about using ChatGPT or some other AI platform. I don’t want that, but I’m struggling to know what to do about it.

Disclosure: My firm is pursuing cases holding AI software companies accountable for the lack of safeguards on their products.

Why do they apologize to me? I’m far from the only worker whose career’s been disrupted by executives who think these platforms can replace us. Do they apologize to everyone, or just me? It made me wonder if I do things to make them want to.

They’re Not Wrong

I hate what AI has done and is continuing to do to the world. The same could be said for Exxon Mobil, Amazon, Meta, Google, and countless other blight corporations. Most of my friends agree the world is worse because these things exist in their current state. Simultaneously, all of us use at least one of those things to fulfill a need in our lives.

*Corry gestures at all the YouTube and Spotify embeds on her site*

Pillboy is a must-watch channel.

AI didn’t create most of these harms, but it’s accelerated them substantially. I’m making an effort to focus more on the existing societal problems in these matters than the tech exacerbating them. But some aspects of it are entirely new with AI personal use.

My Concern (Trolling)

Personal AI use, like most screen-based tech now, is inherently anti-social. It provides people with something to talk to that’ll never reject them. Users open up to it rather than risking talking about hard insecure things with their friends and neighbors. It isolates users from other humans in similar ways an abusive partner or cult leader does in its efforts to keep them engaged and satisfied with their service.

This is what I worry about when loved ones tell me they’re using it. Especially queer friends who don’t think they’ll be accepted or validated elsewhere. Or friends making major decisions about their careers using its feedback. Or loved ones who’re obviously lonely doing prompts instead of shooting me or another friend a text. It really makes me anxious for them.

But if my worry turns me into the judgmental friend no one wants to talk to about this stuff, then in effect I’m just concern trolling. I’m isolating myself from them just as much as their AI software is.

But Isn’t Shame Useful?

Sometimes. But I believe we use it far more often than when it’s helpful. The only place shame helps me be a better version of myself is when I’m running an internal simulation in my head about future choices. It’s never been useful coming from others. There are scientific studies proving just that fact, too.

This incredible video came at a time when I was really feeling down about the topic. I’d just recently watched Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die and within the same week had three different loved ones apologize to me about using AI. For at least one of them, I reacted badly and didn’t like the person I felt like in the moment.

Can I Help It?

I swear I’m trying not to make a judgmental face when someone talks to me about their AI use. I only have so much control over it, but I can do better. I’m sorry I haven’t been better already.

While AI use is inherently anti-social, so is being a bitch.

I’m going to try harder. I’d love you to tell me when I make you feel like you can’t talk to me about certain stuff. I may agree with you about a topic I just don’t want to hear about, but most of the time I want to hear it more than anything. Let’s be vulnerable with each other. I want to talk about real shit.

SMBC comic about how AI has finally replaced us in the workforce, but because of all the human written text about how important work is to us, it creates a world where we must still go through the motions of that work to keep us happy. The human in the comic is horrified.

Comments (2)

Ember Padró says:

Apr 7, 2026 at 10:42 am

I’ve really found LLM’s ability to mimic different types of official and/or neuro typical language extremely useful in my work writing reports and communicating with people who may react badly to something said plainly or an analysis not properly explained. And for helping me break tasks down into manageable schedules.

I’ve been reluctant to cop to it because of the hate for AI as a whole, but I’ve come to use it as another form of masking – one that offloads a lot of the cognitive load of masking, while I still do the analysis, ideation and heavy editing. As a very intelligent parrot, it has helped me screw up at work so, so much less.

Reply to Ember Padró
1. Corry says:
  
  Apr 7, 2026 at 1:21 pm
  
  By all means, use it for work. Employers give us tools we don’t like using all the time and we just have to do the needful to survive. Fewer and fewer of us will even be able to avoid it as time goes by. I’m mostly concerned about personal social use of it and what pro-social things it’s replacing in our lives. Mindful use is probably the key.

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