Don't worry about a joint frying your brain if you can't survive a day without ChatGPT

or — how you're voluntarily dumbing yourself down

I’ll start by saying that this isn’t my attempt at anti-AI or pro-drug propaganda. I have spent the past week painting the walls of my old apartment, and this essay is the product of several hours alone with my thoughts, fueled by paint fumes and the occasional cube of cheese. I know everyone and their mother has written a think piece (gag) about AI, so I figured I’d throw my name in the ring.

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Pot will rot your brain and other thoughts about being a stoner

Growing up, this was one of the main things I was told in an effort to deter me from ever lighting up. I was told weed would make me stupid and that it was a gateway drug to more nefarious and dangerous substances. I don’t think the former was necessarily untrue; anyone who has ever tried having a conversation and had the uncanny feeling that they’re watching a video at 0.75x speed can attest to that. As someone who’s naturally bouncing off the walls (I’m a 2.0x speed gal before my morning coffee and genuinely believe I would have a heart attack if I ever tried Adderall), you can imagine my frustration when my friends’ responses would start to lag, or they’d lose their train of thought entirely.

A couple of weeks ago, I ventured far into East London to visit a furniture showroom for my brother (who’s doing adult things like buying a couch whilst I write about my latest Hinge date on the internet — my parents are very proud of both of us). Claire, my old flatmate, offered to join so we could spend the day together catching up. I suggested we stick around afterwards to make the trek worth it, and we could spend the day enjoying the sun. Walking through Bethnal Green, she visibly tensed, holding her breath and making a face as a cloud of smoke wafted past us. I jokingly took a long inhale. I wish you wouldn’t do that she said. Claire is one of the least uptight and judgy people I know, so I asked her to elaborate. It’s a drug, Julia, it’s scary! First it’s a joint at a party and next thing you know you’re a crackhead and I have to visit you under a bridge!

Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette (1885-86), Van Gogh

AI might be coming for your job, but it will come for your basic functioning first

We grew up being warned about the negative side effects of drugs and alcohol, maybe to the point of becoming desensitised to the images of deformed babies and decaying mouths on the side of Marlboro packets. The AI conversation has also been littered with a lot of fear-mongering. As a fresh grad whose schedule is filled with coffee chats in an attempt to find some guidance regarding my future, I understand all too well the uncertainty about the impact of AI on almost every industry. Who’s going to hire me to do something Chat GPT will do for free? I’d argue that Chat will never know what it’s like to get ghosted by your older coworker with a slutty hoop, so my (unpaid) job on Substack is safe for now. Still, anxieties are high. As someone who still thinks I can write better than Chat GPT (for now), and doesn't get the point of asking it something I could just Google (generative being the key word here, I was equally amused and horrified reading the headlines about the Chicago Sun-Times using AI to come up with a summer reading recommendation with nonexistent books), I was surprised to discover my friends’ (and everyone else’s) overreliance on AI.

We’re the Millers (2013) — Also me, finding out everyone was having daily chats with Chat

My High School five-year reunion was this past weekend, and as the designated unemployed friend, I was hunched over my laptop at the breakfast table finishing application assignments and double-checking cover letters before we headed out to make the most of the open bar. I can’t believe I applied for placement internships without Chat GPT, my friend said. Yeah, I use it for everything, another one, who’s currently finishing up an MSc in Finance, added. I felt like Will Poulter in that one scene of We’re the Millers when he finds out everyone else is getting paid. I was appalled. But also, here were some of the smartest and most competent girls I knew telling me they no longer knew how to reply to an email without first consulting Chat GPT.

It’s a tool, but at what point is it being used to cut off a limb?

I know I might have come off pretentious so far, so let me reel it back. I don’t think I’m better than everyone for not being an avid AI user, and I can see where it can be helpful. I also think that [sometimes] being the only person not using something that might give you a leg up does not make you noble, it makes you an idiot. I’ve asked Chat GPT to summarise information, skim job descriptions and tell me what skills to showcase and explain why my code wouldn’t run. The problem is, I think we’re getting lazy. We’re becoming the generation unable to think critically, to detect nuance, and who needs to be spoonfed information by someone on TikTok. Every time I see someone bashing AI on Substack notes, I feel a little more seen, and when I see people promoting tips on how to use AI to write their posts, I think dude, know your audience! We’re not here to optimise, and I’m always hopeful to find other readers equally outraged to see the emoji-littered posts that populate LinkedIn making their way over here.

At the risk of sounding like an old man…

In the age of [mis]information, nobody has an excuse to be ignorant anymore. It’s easy to be the old man bashing the new kids on the block, to complain that you didn’t have certain advantages back in your day. When writing my undergrad dissertation, my research mostly relied on books with no digital versions, no way to CTRL+F and find what I was looking for. I felt like I was back in the olden days, but over the nine months of research, I also fell in love with the pursuit of knowledge. Of falling down a rabbit hole and following whatever sparked your interest. I relished in the satisfying feeling of dropping off over twenty books after pressing submit. I’m not saying we should give up technology, but can empathise with the increasing urge to disconnect. When it comes to AI, or any other groundbreaking tool, I think there’s a learning curve when it comes to using it responsibly, finding where it can be helpful and where it can hinder. It feels disorienting to be part of the generation that grew up online, never really needing to navigate something new, only to find yourself sounding eerily similar to a grumpy old man talking about better times.

Some exploratory research (read: sending off polls on various WhatsApp group chats)

I’m not sure I’m making a lot of sense here, as I was trying to piece this essay together, I found myself going around in circles. I figured I’d phone a friend and try to understand how other people were using AI. I don’t think I’d make my Research Methods professor very proud here, but in an effort to get some quick responses, I shot off a couple of questions in a few group chats. Now onto the results: my friends fell all over the AI-usage scale, with some using it daily for work and uni tasks, checking grammar and even asking Chat GPT for recipe and workout inspiration, whilst others only occasionally resorted to asking for tech support. One of my friends then texted me separately and admitted:

I recently had a conversation with some friends I genuinely don’t think I could graduate without chat gpt

I’ve become so lazy not because I don’t know what I’m doing but because I know chat gpt can do it so much faster for me

So it does all my thinking working in seconds and then I use that to do my own thing

I’ve known her for ages, she might be the most creative person in my immediate circle, so I asked her if she found that it was at least freeing up time for her to then do something else she normally wouldn’t be able to do. She said that usually she’d just chill on the couch instead (very relatable), but that knowing that she could work faster did relieve some stress.

some very serious research going on

Maybe all is not lost

AI is here to stay, there’s no use in wishing for simpler times or refusing to acknowledge it if everyone around you has Chat GPT in their back pocket. I think it can be an incredibly powerful tool, and that emphasis should be placed on learning how to make good use of it. I also think it’s worth considering if everything needs to and sholuld be optimised. I can understand the panic that comes with something completely new (I am big on panicking these days), but I also remain hopeful. There are people who are much better suited to dissect the impact of AI, but I’ll leave my two cents here: in the same way we’ve been telling our parents not to believe everything they read on the internet, remind yourself not to believe everything Chat has told you.