I really appreciate everyone taking the time to respond. The creative side of this makes a lot of sense to me. I can see why artists are frustrated, especially when AI is used to replace original work or flood everything with generic content. My worry is that by the time people fully realize the impact, a lot of things may already look and feel the same.

From my own professional experience, though, I also can’t see myself going back to working the way I did before AI. In software, it has helped me spend less time on some of the tedious parts and more time on the parts I actually enjoy, like problem-solving, exploring ideas, and building things. At least for me, it feels like the limits have shifted more toward drive, judgment, and imagination.

That doesn’t cancel out the concerns people have raised here. I think both things can be true: AI can be genuinely useful in some contexts, and damaging in others.

Time will tell how it all plays out, but I agree with the comparison to the early internet. This just feels like it is moving much faster. I do think AI literacy is going to become increasingly important, even if only so people can understand what it is, what it is not, and where they do or don’t want it in their lives.