Mike Monteiro

Human beings draw because human beings are genetically programmed to draw. We like to leave marks on things. We start making marks the minute we can figure out how to grasp something that can make a mark and drag it across a surface that’s markable.

If you ask a group of kids whether they can draw they will all raise their hands. Fiercely! Of course they can draw. Ask a group of adults the same question, and you’ll get maybe one very tentative hand.

We are born with hearts that want to leave a mark on the world. This ability is not lost, it is taken from us.

Every time we fire up a Google doc, it asks us if we want AI to write for us. Every time we open an email, it asks us if we want AI to summarize it for us. Every time we open a graphics program, it asks us if we want AI to make the thing for us. Soon we will walk into a voting booth and AI will offer to vote for us. The weight of an entire industry attempting to convince me that I’m inadequate is infuriating.

And while it would be one thing to build tools that help people who need help, we need to be very clear that’s now what’s happening. We are not building people up by giving them helpful tools, we are tearing people down by convincing them they can’t function _without_ the tools. And we are doing this purely because very rich oligarchs would like to become richer. There is nothing benevolent about it.

We are born with hearts that work. This industry is breaking our hearts.

Let’s fix our hearts.