When AI becomes invisible

When AI becomes invisible, how do we stay aware of what we're actually interacting with?

Last year, at WWDC 2024, Apple announced that ChatGPT 4.0 would be built into their devices, via what they call "Apple Intelligence". 

Apple Intelligence would power Siri, writing tools and creative apps. And this week, Apple confirmed that GPT-5 will arrive with their macOS Tahoe release. 

What does this look like?

👉 Asking Siri for a quick summary and getting a GPT-5 level answer BUT without knowing it came from AI

👉Your Notes app suggesting a different way to phrase your idea or thoughts

👉Calendar automatically rewording invites to be more persuasive or polite

👉Search results blending AI-generated answers with links, without a clear line between them

Sounds great, right? 

I'm nervous and this comes from someone who loves AI technology, but I'm also someone who has spent a long time learning both the pros and the cons. I'm well aware of the risks when I use AI tools, but is everyone?

Now, when you open ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude etc., you know that you are talking to AI. You know (or should know) that you need to check the answers, that you might need to do some fact checking.

But when your phone 'just gets smarter' and starts giving you better answers, writing better emails, and creating better content, will you remember to question it?

The dangers......

❗ 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬:  AI confidently states false information but for you, it feels like it's coming from your trusted device

❗𝐄𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠: Why research when your phone gives instant and convincing answers

❗𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐩: We gradually lose the ability to write, think or create without AI assistance

But it gets worse. This is being rolled out to a generation that's been algorithmically programmed.

A generation that's grown up with YouTube and TikTok algorithms that feed them exactly what they want to hear (and I'm not even limiting this to the younger generations, my 80 year old mother is a You Tube addict and I've had to talk her down from several conspiracy theories over the years).

So many people (regardless of generation) are used to being fed personalised content, information that confirms their particular bias and beliefs. And it's not that people are lazy, they are time poor. 

Who has time to fact check, on top of everything else? 

So are Apple and ChatGPT creating the perfect storm?

⛔ Algorithm-trained minds that expect personalised information that confirms what they think they think

⛔ Zero awareness that they are being AI-assisted

⛔ Diminished ability to distinguish between their own ideas and machine-generated ones

So as we hand over more of our thinking to machines, what happens to human intelligence and independent thought?