Who is excited about artificial intelligence and data centers?
My social media algorithm must have picked up on my skepticism
of AI, because lately it has been feeding me anti-AI videos with a vengeance. I
can’t say I’m upset about it. I recently watched clips from two college graduations
where featured speakers praised the promise of AI — only to be booed by the
graduates. The next generation does not seem entirely sold on AI, and honestly,
that gives me hope.
We are living through one of the worst eras of graphic
design. Social media is flooded with AI-generated images that all seem to share
the same crowded, overworked look. They are often so busy that the main message
gets lost. For people without design experience, AI can feel like an easy
shortcut — an instant file that creates the illusion of creativity while
depending entirely on the work of human designers who came before it.
Think about it: there is nothing truly original about AI.
Nothing.
There is no human hand behind it choosing colors, shaping designs,
layering textures, placing photographs, or selecting fonts with purpose. AI
must rely on what original creators have already made in order to produce
anything at all.
Music is no different. AI takes voices, songs, human
expression, and emotion and repackages them into something new. But listen
closely to AI-generated music and you will notice what is missing.
Its music is soulless.
Its designs are soulless.
Its writing is soulless.
AI is building its strength and power from human creativity,
experience, and knowledge. The more we depend on it, the less we may practice
the very skills that make us thoughtful, capable, and creative.
We no longer have to know how to spell; we can speak our
words into a text message, email, or search bar.
We no longer have to write a social media post to promote something;
AI can do it for us.
Generic press releases and feature stories can be produced
in seconds with just a few prompts.
Once we become fully reliant on AI, companies will begin charging
us more and more to use it. Think about that. Someone will make billions of
dollars selling us access to something we were born with: intelligence. It reminds
me of the bottled water industry.
Meanwhile, we risk sacrificing farmland, neighborhoods,
relationships, communities, and watersheds to build the data centers needed to support
technology humans are being conditioned to believe they cannot live without.
So what now?
Run from the temptation to rely on artificial intelligence
for everything. Listen to real music on vinyl. Read books you can hold in your
hands. Write with pen and paper every once in a while. Use the talents you were
born with to encourage others and contribute to a world created by a loving God
just for you.
You are original.
You are unique.
You have a purpose. Go live it out.
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