I don’t want to use AI to write. I love books, hard copies, digital and audio. I like knowing most of my favorite books were written by an individual or co-authors. Real human and spiritual beings behind the writing – not artificially created word use. However, there’s a good chance some tech-related books I own used AI in their development.
This doesn’t mean I will not use AI at some point. It, like the Internet 35+ years ago, is here to stay. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is intriguing, productive, alluring, complex, and increasingly dangerous.
While many people fully embrace the use of “smart” devices and appreciate the convenience they afford, I’ve long been suspicious of the motives behind their inception. I recall reading an article around 2005 where Google co-founder Larry Page said something to the effect of knowing what a person was going to type into GMAIL before they did it. Now, checking in 2025, I haven’t been able to verify this recollection. At the time, I found it audacious but now we know how & why.
In hindsight, my indignation didn’t motivate me to research how Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs were becoming so wealthy. We didn’t have all the facts early in the 21st century but the facts, since revealed like the peeling of an onion, illustrate the betrayal of our trust and the extent to which they sold their customers (aka We the People) out.
It’s interesting but not surprising how these (now) billionaires find themselves eager to preserve and protect their profitable government contracts – which in the case of an American president, means they must suck up to him. Likely, over, and over for at least 3.5 years to come. This transactional relationship presumably provides additional rewards. After all, who stands to benefit from an American president and his MIA Congress’ intention to shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB?) It sure isn’t the American consumer aka We the People.
I’ve used DuckDuckGo as a browser for over a decade and encouraged others to do the same. I’ve covered my webcam(s) to prevent Microsoft and potentially others, from spying on me. I’ve known since we bought our first “smart” TV that we were jeopardizing our privacy yet even then, I did not understand the pervasiveness of this tech betrayal.
Earlier this year despite my concerted efforts since 2022 to NOT update to the latest Windows version, I see Microsoft chose to update my PC anyway. WIN 10 had not reached the end of its life cycle so this was intentional and annoying. I wish I’d read this PCWorld article from January 2025 about Microsoft pushing the update which confirmed my belief Microsoft was relentless toward this objective. In part, it reads: “This automatic update targets only devices that are not managed by IT departments.” My guess is a lot of small businesses were comparably annoyed.
Years ago, I bought my husband an Amazon Alexa and at first, we got a kick out of using it. Pretty soon it lost its appeal because privacy concerns became more prevalent. We turned Alexa off. The bright red light encircling the top of the unit confirmed it was OFF. Several months later, Alexa started talking again by responding to a TV commercial. The red light showing OFF still shone. WTH?!? I unplugged that sucker and recycled it.
