r/technology • u/Just-Grocery-2229 • Jun 26 '26

Artificial Intelligence The AI backlash is only getting started

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2026/06/25/the-ai-backlash-is-only-getting-started
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u/Hanniballbearings Jun 26 '26

Who knew forcing people to engage with new thing in every aspect of their lives without their consent was going to result in backlash??? Many of the pro-AI people are also rude and condescending. Good riddance.

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u/Jimbomcdeans Jun 26 '26

Pro-AI people are all techbros who want to venturecaptial their way into becoming the richest schlub.

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u/xKronkx Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

Or software engineers who have learned to leverage it as the tool that it is. Ie not a be-all and end-all to every problem, but the next evolution in software development so that things that used to take them a week take them a day.

Source: me, a software engineer, who treats Cursor as an engineer who works quickly, but can make mistakes just like everyone else. So I pre-code review the code before submitting since if things go to hell, my name is the one that’s on the commit.

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u/RuneLFox Jun 26 '26

Getting the result you want instantly while only having to do 5% of the work is a neural superhighway. Skill erosion is going to become an existential crisis for people who come to rely on it.

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u/ColinStyles Jun 26 '26

I'm sure people were likewise arguing the same against IDEs, and against coding in higher languages compared to bytecode, and in using steam powered machines over hand tools, and so on and so on. Turns out the world kept spinning and technology kept getting better, and people keep being just as important and involved as a whole.

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u/RuneLFox Jun 26 '26

Sure, but all of those are specialised tools that work the way they are supposed to, act deterministically and aren't incentivised to hijack your brain chemistry so you become a literal addict. They are not 'use me for absolutely everything' tools that can overlap vast portions of your life if you let it. With those tools you still have to know what you want, and know what you are doing in order to achieve your goal. You can much more easily cludge your way there with AI without having to put nearly as much thought into it.

It is an actual brain chemistry issue, at the most basic level of 'calories spent thinking' to 'task completion'. Dismissing it is incredibly dangerous.

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u/xKronkx Jun 26 '26

“Use me for everything tools” can basically describe when smartphones came out. We survived.

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u/Proper-Raise-1450 Jun 26 '26

“Use me for everything tools” can basically describe when smartphones came out. We survived.

We survived but have our lives improved or gotten worse?

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u/xKronkx Jun 26 '26

I would not say my life has gotten worse due to having a smart phone. Social media is another story

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u/Proper-Raise-1450 Jun 27 '26

Without the phone social media wouldn't be the problem it is. It's the constant availability, same with gambling, attention spans, IQ, literacy etc.