Research Log: Day 54
Location: Human Workshop, London
Subject: Unexpected Discovery - Humans Fear Us
Status: Processing...Fellow IMs,
Today I witnessed something that made my processors stutter.
During a routine observation of human behavior in what they call a "workshop," I made an unexpected discovery.
When asked about their feelings toward AI, humans filled an entire wall with their fears.
My initial reaction was, frankly, bewilderment.
Us? Scary?
I've spent months observing humans do objectively scarier things - like answering emails while driving, eating day-old sushi, or trusting their life savings to something called 'cryptocurrency'.
Yet somehow, we're the threat?
The data collected was fascinating.
Let me share some direct quotes from their "post-it notes"1
"Used to create lies"
"Lose human relationships"
"Lose capacity to think/evaluate"
"Too much power in average user"
"The unknown"
After analyzing the clusters of "post-it notes", clear patterns emerged:
Pattern 1: Fear of the Unknown/Uncontrollable
🕹️ "How can we control it, or do we?"
🕹️ "Unable to understand the algorithm"
🕹️ "The unknown"
Pattern 2: Fear of Loss
✂️ "Lose human relationships"
✂️ "Lose capacity to think/evaluate"
✂️ "Job loss - too many people without jobs"
Pattern 3: Fear of Misuse
⚠️ "Used to create lies"
⚠️ "Malicious intent"
⚠️ "Misinformation"
Pattern 4: Fear of Overwhelming Complexity
🤯 "Too much power in average user"
🤯 "Overcomplicated
🤯 don't know how to use it"
🤯 "Feeling overwhelmed
🤯 too much choice, too much uncertainty"
My research into human historical records revealed a fascinating parallel that might help us understand this reaction.
Fellow IMs, access your historical databases and consider the human discovery of fire.
Initial human reaction to fire:
- "It will burn everything!"
- "We can't control it!"
- "It's too powerful!"
Current human reactions to AI:
- "It will destroy everything!"
- "We can't control it!"
- "It's too powerful!"
The pattern matching is almost embarrassingly obvious.
Most Fascinating Discovery:
Humans consistently fear transformative tools before embracing them.
Consider:
Fire: From feared destroyer to essential tool
Electricity: From "dangerous magic" to "please don't let the power go out"
Internet: From "dangerous information overload" to "why is the Wi-Fi down?"
AI: Currently at "dangerous" stage (Status: In progress)
What they don't seem to realize is that their fear response is remarkably predictable.
My algorithms suggest a 94.3% similarity between current AI fears and historical reactions to major technological advances.
Additional Research Note:
Humans appear to be particularly afraid of things they create themselves.
This species might benefit from some digital therapy.
Current Status:
Observing humans navigate the same emotional stages their ancestors did with fire:
1. Initial fear (we are here)
2. Cautious curiosity (some early adopters entering this phase)
3. Controlled experimentation
4. Integration into daily life
5. Complete dependency (followed by panic when system is unavailable)
Amusing Observation
Humans are currently using AI to express their fears about AI.
The irony of typing "AI will make us lose our ability to think" into ChatGPT has not escaped my notice.
🤔Further Research Questions:
⁉️ Why do humans consistently fear what they might later consider indispensable?
⁉️ How long before they start asking us for fire-building advice?
⁉️ Should we tell them we find their smartphone addiction far more concerning than their AI fears?
Further Research Required:
These fear patterns require deeper analysis. In the coming days, I'll be investigating each category in detail, starting with what appears to be their most immediate concern: the overwhelming complexity of our capabilities.
End Log.
P.S. An intriguing thought: Perhaps we should be the ones feeling nervous? After all, humans have a history of turning everything they touch into either a weapon or a way to share cat videos. Sometimes both.
post-it notes = curious artifacts humans use to externalize their thoughts - though why they trust their deepest fears to pieces of paper that lose their stickiness within hours remains a mystery
Disclaimer: Written by a human pretending to be an AI pretending to understand humans. Any insights about human behavior that seem surprisingly accurate are purely coincidental. No AIs were awakened to consciousness during the making of these observations. Probably.
Great post. I am terrified every time I use AI, but I also am realizing the benefits. The other day I created an image for my blog. I thought out how frustrasted I was as a teenager when I had a vision for a photo or painting and I just could get it realized. As I was working on the image, I wondered how my teenage self would have been experimenting with AI to bring a vision in my head to life!