I recently accepted a connection request on LinkedIn from a colleague who immediately followed up with an invitation to test his new AI-powered editing software.
Frankly, I was taken aback.
He had obviously not read anything I’ve posted.
He had not seen my antipathy toward AI.
He had misjudged my potential as a customer.
Despite the many ethical concerns—there are many—regarding generative AI, project managers, marketers, lead generation consultants, and others are jumping onto the AI bandwagon, desperate not to be left behind in the evolution of the Digital Age. Authors and editors are increasingly asking whether they, too, should use AI to write and edit their work.
Beyond ethical concerns, the facilities required to power AI consume monstrous amounts of arable land and wilderness, water, and electricity. Hyperscale data centers degrade the environment. Bees are dying en masse. (Without bees in North America, we’ll have to rely on other countries for food.) Ranchers near data centers report livestock failing to thrive with terrible reductions in fertility and live births. (Without a robust national herd, we’ll be relying on other countries for our meat.) Residents near data centers complain of constant noise and constant light causing their physical and mental health to suffer.
In addition, reports show that AI is contributing to cognitive decline in both children and adults. Students find cheating easier than ever. Critical thinking has become a lost skill. Every generation complains the ones following it are less capable; we now know this complaint has become reality.
Now Meta has decoupled business growth and scale from human effort. AI made this possible. According to Yuri Kruman, in Q2 of 2026 “Meta added roughly $13 billion in a quarter and subtracted people.” The last time productivity was decoupled from human effort was the Industrial Revolution.
Society treats AI like a toy to convert photos of ourselves into dolls or historic paintings, but we’ve lost control of it. AI has been shown to fabricate sources in research. It has persuaded lonely, impressionable youth to harm themselves. It has defied orders to shut down.
Humanity created this monster which has no safeguards to prevent it from destroying its creators, because tech bros never ask whether they should do this, only whether they can and how quickly. Science fiction predicted this horrific, dystopian future we’re racing toward: e.g., Black River by Dean Koontz, The Terminator with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Are the speed and convenience of AI worth the costs to society, the environment, and humanity? I don’t think so and hope you don’t either.
So, if you’re looking for human effort, human creativity, and human insight as well as the protection of your intellectual property in the writing, editing, or design of your book, then schedule a call with me.
