Are we really still doing this? (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

I know these ads are rage bait and I’m falling for it.

This campaign is at least a year old, but Artisan must have more VC cash to light on fire 🔥 before the end of the year, because they have *flooded* these kiosks uptown. In residential neighborhoods. During the holidays.

I don’t blame the founders for this. It certainly grabs your attention. Mission accomplished (especially if the target ICP is people like themselves who feel no shame).

AI can be a leveling force for small, resource strapped orgs. Do they pitch that? No.

AI can be used to create unique, never-before seen solutions. Do they pitch that? No.

AI can free and empower knowledge workers to take on more strategic work. Do they pitch that? No.

Marketing against humans and that which makes us human is the choice they made.

A choice that fuels AI backlash and shows the founders and their backers do not fear ever being themselves vulnerable to or accountable for any social and economic upheaval from AI.

My colleagues, friends and family know me as a “pro-AI” quite likely to the point of irritation. 😑 AI has inspired me to experiment, play and build things that I think deliver meaningful value. But it is possible - no imperative - to be equally mindful of the risks and impacts along the way.

There is so much potential for AI to deliver incredible improvements to the way we experience and understand the world, as humans.

My personal efforts are focused on solutions that fill gaps in understanding or information - solutions that lets users opt in to a personalized experience that hasn’t been possible before. Brilliant scientists will find breakthroughs in medicine and energy that will materially improve our health.

But dunking on humans? And the very idea of employment?

Defenders might say they should be applauded for simply saying the quiet part out loud. That this is just a reflection of the coarseness of the world we live in.

To that I say, their bunkers must be pitchfork-proof.