San Francisco: The land of unreasonably steep hills, delicious yet overpriced matcha lattes and AI tech startups. San Francisco wouldn’t be the same without the tech bros all up in your face trying to convince you how their AI startup will be “the one” to change the world. The only problem is that somehow, all the tech bros managed to think of the same, “genius” idea. If they all banded together with their “original” ideas, we would turn into a tech dominated utopia with a bunch of nerds running around, bringing all of us unwillingly into participation, perhaps with at-birth brain chip implants.
Following the release of the beloved ChatGPT, there’s been a surge in AI startups this past couple of years. I can’t seem to escape the “I uploaded my notes into TurboLearnAI” ads on every TikTok that claims to be a “study hack” video — they are everywhere. Cluely AI’s CEO, Roy Lee, shows up in my dreams talking about the rave that he threw. I can’t tell you how many times a TikTok has genuinely piqued my interest by promising to talk about training good study habits and then immediately disappointed me with the presentation of a conveniently monetized, subscription-based AI “study solution.”
The general consensus when ChatGPT came out was that it had the potential to be a powerful tool for assisting humans. But as AI has grown more advanced and more parties have gotten their hands on the technology, its purpose seems to have shifted. Of course there has always been a long list of flaws with ChatGPT, but I do believe that the original intention with ChatGPT was never to make humans stupider or more dishonest. I can’t say the same thing about the recent AI startup scene, which seemingly advocates for constant academic dishonesty and rampant usage of shortcuts in place of honest work.
Our world is turning into one that values efficiency over creativity, leaving traits that are inherently human to be seen as dead weight. This developing AI culture has socialized us to no longer celebrate essential traits like hard work and perseverance.
Cluley AI is one of the more popular recent AI startups that instantly took off. Their marketing strategy is very Gen Z-esque, and their AI brand is all about cheating, even on live interviews. At the time of the Cluely launch, Lee posted on X: “Cluely is out. Cheat on everything.” The Cluely website states that Cluely helps users answer questions and objections in real-time during calls, a step up from other AI meeting assistants who create meeting summaries afterwards, in the name of helping users “perform better during high-stakes conversations.” Their business model shamelessly appeals to and profits off peoples’ performance anxiety, while undermining the functionality of competitive interviews, which are meant to be fair reflections of your authentic self under pressure from interviewers.
I am sick and tired of these AI startups telling me that I will fail all of my classes and have all of my applications rejected without a robot telling me what to do. We have reached a point where the widespread advertisement of “the future of AI” is normalizing not only being okay with cheating, but recognizing it as efficient and necessary in order to succeed in our ever-demanding world.
It’s wild that we’ve reached a point in our acceptance and even worship of AI where the promotion of dishonesty is seen as an inescapable condition of modern life. Even in higher education, AI is encouraged. When a professor tells me it’s okay to take ideas from an AI brainstorm when doing my assignments, do they value the work I can create on my own? Or will my own, authentic brainstorming be thrown into the pile with the rest of the AI brainstormed muck?
Now, every AI ad campaign echoes the same message: You are not good enough to succeed without AI and you are not capable of thinking, creating or solving problems on your own. Laziness is being repackaged by these companies as “efficiency,” and our skills that make us all individually human — the skills that show up in interviews, coffee chats and thoughtful, handwritten work — are being forfeited and devalued.
I’m not saying that we all have to revert back to writing with charcoal in a room lit by wax candles, but we must reinstate the original, main purpose of AI development, before business-leader gluttony got a hold of the narrative. AI wasn’t created to feed you simple-minded interview answers, nor was it created for you to cheap-out on your life. The original hope for AI was that it would help us make imperative medical breakthroughs or solve world crises. Now, it’s causing a crisis of its own, erasing the application of individualistic traits that make you distinctive and appealing throughout your work and your education.
We must maintain our individuality and recognize that we are in fact capable of thinking on our own. The human aspect of our work is what gives it the most substance. Applying ourselves and letting ourselves make mistakes is what trains us to be more compassionate, knowledgeable and resilient people.
If you feel that you cannot do any task without AI at your fingertips, consider doing something where you feel your own passion and creativity naturally coming through. Wipe the spit off your face from the tech bros yelling at you and allow yourself to find passion in your life that you are willing to work for.
Ansley Kang, SC ’29 had to ask ChatGPT what her favorite color was for an interview. Apparently it’s blue?
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