July 16, 2025

By Jim Towey

There is an ancient Chinese proverb that explains my problem with the feeding frenzy now underway with artificial intelligence (AI): Fish see the worm, not the hook. Big Tech is chumming the waters and hauling in nets bursting with cash. They are setting the hook for humanity.

Perhaps the main arguments propelling AI is the claim that we must beat China in the super-intelligence race. Robert Bellafiore in The Free Press gave a good beat-down of this argument. He entitled his piece, “Eat Your AI Slop or China Wins.” He warned of false hopes in AI, the dangers the AI race poses to our values as a democracy, and the likelihood of being trapped in an “iron cage” of our own making.

Sounding the alarm

He is not alone. The mega-successful investor Paul Tudor Jones, whose fortune came from deftly managing risk, sounded the AI alarm during a network morning news program. He said AI clearly poses an imminent security threat to humanity in our lifetime. Breakfast anyone?

He cited a gathering he attended of Big Tech’s titans at a resort recently where some believed there is a not-insignificant chance that AI will kill 50% of humanity in the next ten years. Let’s head to the spa! Elon Musk previously said there was a 20% likelihood that AI would destroy humanity. The darkest views at this retreat were held by the developers of the AI technology themselves. They know that in the race to beat China, caution and ethics have been thrown to the wind.

Some leaders in America see the threats I see. When the “Big Beautiful Bill” was speeding to passage, the U.S. Senate fortunately had the wisdom to nix the idea of preventing the states from regulating AI. Big Tech buys its way to what it wants so don’t think for a second this issue is settled. History will hold Presidents Obama, Biden and Trump responsible for being asleep at the AI kill switch.

Humans are resilient, resourceful

I’m not a doomsdayer. I believe our loving God is sovereign and has loving purposes. We humans, the pinnacle of God’s creation, are resilient and resourceful. No one argues with the many attractive features of AI. But at what cost to humanity? To the truth? To reality? Big Tech’s god is money and power. It wants the world to retreat into what Bellafiore called a “delusional virtuality.” But don’t sell human intelligence short. That’s why those goofy Meta goggles aren’t catching on. Neither are virtual friends, AI companions, or avatars of the deceased. Human dignity knows better.

But some humans may succumb to what Bellafiore termed “learned helplessness among all who can no longer function without ChatGPT.” Why learn to write or read if AI will do this for you? Why learn a foreign language if AI can do simultaneous translations? I know teachers and professors who are going back to using blue books and oral examinations because AI is circumventing the learning process for students.

AI also is an energy suck. Some experts believe AI data centers will consume 21% of the world’s annual energy output by 2030, if current AI demand trends continue. And these massive data centers need water to chill out, even if this refreshment comes at the expense of humans. The New York Times told that story this week. But no matter – gotta beat China, right?

There go the jobs

Meanwhile, AI is creating an employment desert. The CEO of Ford Motor Company recently acknowledged that AI will wipe away half of all white-collar jobs in the not-too-distant future. I didn’t need him to tell me that. I’ve talked with friends who work in consulting, practice law, run a small business, or who are in health care. They already have seen the job displacement. Vacancies go unfilled. Work is offloaded to AI. I think DOGE exists to accelerate that process.

Where are the decent paying jobs for young people beginning their careers? What is the path forward for them to own a home? All that an AI economy will offer is a thin sliver of well-paying jobs and crappy jobs for the masses.

What can be done?

My advice? Lean into your humanness. Grow your own intelligence. Don’t let CheatGPT do your thinking or writing for you. Don’t trust government’s assurances on AI. Let politicians know you don’t want the eye-scanning CLEAR technology at airports or anywhere. Renounce the Amazon vision of robots replacing people.  Refuse the tyrannical technology that ensnares humanity by weening yourself off social media.

In the book of Genesis, Esau foolishly sold his birthright for a bowl of porridge. Let’s not settle for the AI slop that Big Tech and government wants to force-feed us.

(The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Aging with Dignity and/or its Board of Directors)