Introduction
Alright, let’s get one thing straight: this isn’t another blog post about AI taking over the world, replacing jobs, or sparking some sci-fi uprising. Nope. This is a rant. My rant about how people’s obsession with AI is, honestly, making us dumber by the day. As someone who lives and breathes design and development, I’m seeing this unfold in real time, and it’s bumming me out.
"Human beings are the sex organs of the machine world."
The AI Overload
AI is everywhere. It’s not just a tool anymore; it’s the tool. For some people, it’s practically a life support system. You can’t scroll through a tech event. like Google I/O 2025, where Gemini was the only thing. without hearing “AI” every five seconds. Every big tech company is cramming AI into everything. I’m expecting even garbage cans to start bragging about its AI powered trash sorting skills or whatever any day now. That would be trash talking for real. (If it hasn’t already.) This is the peak of enshitification. When everything, even the most simple stuff, gets an AI makeover whether it needs it or not.
The Dark Side
What’s really messing with my head is how AI’s becoming a crutch for so many people in the design and dev world. I see it every day. Developers and designers who lean so hard on AI that they’ve forgotten how to think for themselves. Problem solving? Critical thinking? Those are becoming endangered skills. Instead of wrestling with a challenge, some people just feed it to an AI and call it a day. And then surprise! They’re the same ones complaining that AI’s “replacing” them. Here’s a hot take: if you’re outsourcing your brain to AI, you’re not getting replaced; you’re just devolving. AI should take and deserves to take your job.
"In our universities, students are using AI to write their essays. Tutors are then using AI to mark those essays. After three years, AI takes the job. It actually seems quite fair."
This over reliance isn’t just making us lazy. It’s turning far fetched theories like the Dead Internet Theory and enshitification into unsettling realities. The Dead Internet Theory suggests the web is increasingly filled with AI generated content, bots, and automated interactions, drowning out real human voices. Enshitification describes how platforms start great but gradually prioritize profit and control over user experience, often with AI taking over the wheels. Our obsession with AI is fueling these trends, creating a digital world that feels hollow and manipulative. Future generations might grow up in an online landscape where authentic human creativity is buried under algorithmic noise, and every product or service is optimized for engagement rather than value. It’s a weird, dark path where genuine connection and original thought could become rare, leaving us with a slick but soulless internet that’s more about control than creativity.
Vibe Coding and the AI Crutch
Then there’s this thing called “vibe coding”. You know, when developers use AI to generate code for them. Sure, it’s handy for quick fixes or debugging small errors. But I’ve seen people spend so much of their time tweaking prompts to get AI to spit out exactly what they want. At that point, isn’t it faster to just write the code yourself? It’s like hiring a chef to make you a sandwich while you stand there dictating every little thing. AI should be in the background, quietly helping you out. Not stealing the spotlight while you prompt it like it’s your personal genie.
I’m not anti AI. I use it myself too. It’s great for the tedious stuff in my design work like knocking out documentation, filling in placeholders, generating quick graphics, or fixing my grammar when I’m too lazy to proofread. Those are the boring bits, and I’m happy to let AI handle them so I can focus on the creative, problem solving stuff that makes me “me” as a designer. But offloading my actual thinking? My creativity? No way. My brain’s not perfect, but it’s mine, and I’m not about to let some algorithm take the wheel.
Conclusion
Don’t get me wrong. AI is one of the greatest technological leaps we’ve ever made. It has the potential to make our lives better in meaningful ways. But the way we’re using it right now? It’s giving big time dystopian vibes. This over-reliance is a problem, and it’s not going to be fixed by some top down mandate. It starts with us. Individuals choosing to use our brains instead of handing them over to a model.
We were born with incredible minds. They’re messy, imperfect, and sometimes slow, but they’re ours. Let’s use them. AI can tag along for the ride, but it shouldn’t get to drive.