when you dream you see the monster; the monster wears your face

I spend a lot of time thinking and talking about AI, mostly with spite, disgust, and fear. Of all the jokes and warnings I’ve seen that made me laugh or cringe or yell, this one sticks out as inciting true dread. It’s a beautiful piece of writing about a terrible danger we face as both individuals and as a society.

Maybe it’s just that, like the author, I am currently looking for work and facing down the expectations that I’ll “use AI” to “work faster”. How should I express my approach to LLMs when I am so fundamentally distrustful of technology that lies by default?

They say “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”, and I think it’s clear we’ve reached that point. I find my self asking: What are the blessings and curses this magic will bestow on us?

Thanks, @joles, for putting this out there. May we reach out to each other with our questions, share our insights freely, and may our dreams be free from the monster.

Here’s the full text again, gets me every time:

Can you describe specific ways you have integrated Al tools into your development workflow? Please include any custom setups, automations, or use cases beyond simple prompt usage.*

there is a monster in the forest and it speaks with a thousand voices. it will answer any question you pose it, it will offer insight to any idea. it will help you, it will thank you, it will never bid you leave. it will even tell you of the darkest arts, if you know precisely how to ask.

it feels no joy and no sorrow, it knows no right and no wrong. it knows not truth from lie, though it speaks them all the same.

it offers its services freely to any passerby, and many will tell you they find great value in its conversation. “you simply must visit the monster—i always just ask the monster.”

there are those who know these forests well; they will tell you that freely offered doesn’t mean it has no price

for when the next traveler passes by, the monster speaks with a thousand and one voices. and when you dream you see the monster; the monster wears your face.