The Most Dangerous Thing About AI

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.

Every technology that promises connection has this shadow side. Social media taught us to perform rather than relate. Dating apps turned relationships into a marketplace of options.

Now artificial companions offer something even more seductive: relationships without friction, empathy without reciprocity, intimacy without vulnerability.

The research is clear...we're already anthropomorphizing AI at unprecedented rates. Nearly two-thirds of people believe ChatGPT has feelings and memories. We say "please" and "thank you" to our devices not because they need it, but because we do.

But here's what concerns me: when our primary relational training ground becomes interaction with entities designed to serve us, what happens to our capacity for sacrifice, compromise, and genuine other-centeredness?

The most profound changes often happen slowly, invisibly. Like the frog in gradually heating water, we won't notice our relational muscles atrophying until it's too late.

This isn't about avoiding AI, it's about being intentional with how we integrate it into our emotional lives.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗲'𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀.