Artificial intelligence has quickly become everyone’s favorite topic… and target.
Depending on who you talk to, it’s either the greatest invention since the internet or the beginning of humanity’s downfall. But here’s a thought worth sitting on: you can only really hate on AI if you’ve actually used it.
Otherwise, you’re just making noise.
A lot of the fear and resentment around AI comes from misunderstanding. People imagine faceless robots replacing jobs, or algorithms secretly plotting against humanity. But AI, at least in its current form, isn’t some all-knowing entity. It’s a tool. One that learns from the data it’s fed and reflects both the brilliance and the bias of the people who build and use it.
Those who’ve spent time with AI tools (writers, artists, coders, and even business owners) often have a more nuanced take.
They know that AI isn’t perfect.
It hallucinates, it makes mistakes, and it needs constant human guidance. But they also know its potential: it can automate the boring stuff, spark creativity, and help people who might not otherwise have access to resources or expertise.
For instance, an artist using AI might not see it as a threat but as a collaborator that helps visualize ideas faster. A journalist might use it to summarize reports or organize interview transcripts, not to replace storytelling. A student might rely on it to simplify a concept they’re struggling to grasp.
These are practical, real-world uses. Not science fiction scenarios.
The loudest critics often haven’t spent more than a few minutes with an AI tool. They see headlines about “robots stealing jobs” or “AI-generated art winning contests” and conclude that it’s all bad. But like any powerful technology, the issue isn’t AI itself.
It’s how we use it.
Just as social media amplified misinformation and online echo chambers, AI can reflect the same flaws if we’re careless. The difference is, this time, we have a chance to steer it early.
To have a meaningful opinion about AI, you need to engage with it.
Experiment, learn, and even make mistakes along the way. That’s how you start seeing its limits and its value. It’s easy to criticize something from the sidelines, but harder (and far more valuable) to understand it from within.
AI is here to stay.
We can argue about its ethics, policies, and boundaries (and we should) but those discussions only matter if they come from informed experience, not fear or secondhand outrage.
So before you write it off completely, try it out.
Ask it questions.
Let it assist you with something small. See where it shines and where it fails. You might still dislike it afterward, and that’s fair.
But at least then, your criticism won’t just be noise. It’ll be insight.
