I refuse to become a robot
I’ve gotten the feedback recently that I might be a tad bit paranoid and extreme in my worldviews. My kids have both developed this “there she goes again” look when I start to rant about the patriarchy, late-stage capitalism, screens and technology, and my latest and greatest fear of AI. I’m resisting everything about it and refusing to accept that the future is unfolding right in front of us- which ok, yes I realize is a frozen nervous system state that at some point I will need to allow to move towards some direction or action. But right now, all I can see is the ways that humans are becoming increasingly disconnected from their hearts (hence, the work I do as a therapist) and their hands (here’s the link to this pottery website).
While, unfortunately, neither me alone nor a tribe of us are able to stop the tides, I continue to be convinced that we are what we practice- and that even in the futuristic doom-a-geddon that is feeling increasingly close upon us, we humans possess infinite capacity to CONNECT and to CREATE. In fact, our survival as a species has depended on it. So, my goal for this tiny blog (the details of which I haven’t shared with a soul because the thought of someone READING IT is still pretty intolerable, as of May 15 2025) is that it can remind us of our inherent humanity and the importance of holding on to these life-saving measures of being WITH other people without technology in the middle, and also participating in anything that links us to creativity- either our own or other peoples’ or that of nature itself.
Because I am still stuck in refusing to consciously interact with AI, I’m not sure what it would have to say about its’ role in connection and creativity. I don’t see how a computer-generated product or image could ever hold the same spark that something made by human imagination and physical contact does. I get that a mug could be 3-D printed. But it would not feel the same, nor would it hold liquid with the same steadiness or heat retention capacity. I plan to resist any induction into the ways of the robot and I know that there is a growing tribe of us who feels the same- who still listen to vinyl, take the long route to the destination, appreciate local handmade ceramics and other forms of art, and build our lives around participation in connection and relationships.
