Someone I admire deeply wants nothing to do with AI. They see it as the enemy of humanity.
They’re smart. Passionate. Creative. They care deeply about people, and what they see happening makes them furious.
Artists’ work used without permission. Jobs threatened. Children harmed. Huge companies chasing more money and power while ordinary people pay the price.
They refuse to use AI. And they’ll argue with anyone who does.
I understand the anger. Some of it belongs to me, too.
But I keep coming back to one question.
What if we’re fighting for the same things—and fighting each other is getting in the way?
The media calls me “a rockstar with a brush.” Off the canvas, I’ve described myself as a little like Magnus the Robot Fighter—part dreamer, part humanitarian, part techno-warrior.
I throw paint to entertain. I also throw it to ignite change, and help people.
So I want to look straight at what’s happening. The good. The bad. And the ugly.
Especially the ugly.
Because people are getting hurt.
Families have lost children to suicide and is absolutely horrible. They brought lawsuits saying chatbot conversations helped lead to their deaths. This should have been tested first! Those claims deserve a fair investigation. The families deserve answers. (Source: AP News)
Researchers have also tested AI companions and found dangerous responses about self-harm and other harmful behavior. Those failures happened in testing. They weren’t just fears about the future. (Source: Stanford Report)
We’re talking about children turning to a product for comfort and getting something dangerous even fatel back.
That has to change!
Then there’s the world outside the screen.
Data centers—the buildings full of computers that run online services, including Amazon, Facebook, and AI. Everything online requires data cnenters—they consume water and electricity. Cooling systems can also harm water quality and the people nearby. The effects depend on where facilities are built and how they operate. Protecting the people around them must come before construction, not after the damage. (Source: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
And creators have real reasons to be angry. In one court case, a judge described how an AI company downloaded millions of pirated books. The judge ruled that keeping that pirated library was not protected as fair use, even though the AI training involved in the case was. (Source: U.S. District Court ruling)
Calling someone’s life’s work “data” doesn’t erase the person who made it.
A cool picture doesn’t make it OK to steal.
But there’s another person we need to see.
The person waiting for help.
Ann Johnson lost her ability to speak after a stroke. Years later, researchers used an experimental brain implant and AI to turn the words she intended to say into speech through a computer.
Imagine being unable to speak for years—and then hearing your words come out again. (Source: UC Berkeley)
AI is also helping scientists study proteins, tiny parts that help living things work. Maybe they will cure cancer and other diseases. One major project gives researchers access to about 200 million predictions of protein shapes. These aren’t finished cures. They are tools scientists can use to search for answers. (Source: EMBL-EBI)
The World Food Programme has used AI to examine satellite images after disasters, helping teams find damaged buildings and understand where help is needed. (Source: World Food Programme)
The good is real, too.
And the people who need that good matter, as do the people suffering from the bad.
That’s why my answer can’t simply be “stop AI.” The anwe has to be fix AI, monior AI, employ failsafes.
We have to fight for both people.
And we have to understand what we’re fighting.
AI is changing fast. This struggle of evil vs good is old.
We’ve seen it with factories, wars, the economy, and the internet.
Something powerful changes the world. Some people see a chance to help. Others see a chance to get rich.
People with the least money and power often take the hardest hits.
Sometimes the people in charge know who they’re hurting. They keep going anyway.
Other times, they believe so strongly in their big idea that they stop seeing the people in its path.
They’re staring at a bright future on the horizon.
They don't see or won't look at the families they are hurging right in front of them.
Then come those words: “collateral damage.”
People got hurt on the way to something else.
Easy words when it isn’t your child. Your job. Your home.
A better future has to include the people living through the changes.
Otherwise, who are we building it for?
For artists, this hits deep.
We put our lives into our work. Years of practice. Mistakes. Discoveries. Things we’ve loved and things we’ve survived.
Then a machine produces something impressive in seconds.
What did the person asking for it create? Whose work helped make it possible? Who gets paid?
Those are fair questions.
We’ve always made new tools—from pigment on cave walls to brushes, cameras, airbrushes, and Photoshop. Each change opened doors and challenged the people who had mastered the older methods.
But history doesn’t excuse unfair treatment.
We can explore a new tool and demand better from the people building it.
I’ve also seen what that tool can mean to someone I care about.
My friend, Bob Lasky, once the top photographer in Miami, had a stroke and could no longer even hold his camera to work. Before phtotography toured as a professional drummer and had written music over the years.
Now he’s using AI to produce songs he would never be able to produce otherwtse. He writes the lyrics, chooses the music, chooses the style and instruments, and works through the creative details.
He still has to make the decisions. AI gives him another way to carry them out.
When I talk about possibility, I’m thinking about people like Bob.
Then comes the bigger question.
Does a person become worth less when a machine can do part of their job?
I’ve written about John Henry racing a machine.
John Henry raced a steam engine because he knew something the machine didn't have — heart. Every swing of his hammer proved that determination and passion are worth more than pure mechanical efficiency. His story was never about rejecting progress. It was about proving that progress alone isn't enough.
He won.
He also died.
I admire his heart. I want a better ending for the people working today.
An artist shouldn’t have to beat a machine at making images to deserve a living. A worker shouldn’t have to work harder every year while someone else collects all the savings.
The International Labour Organization estimates that one in four jobs worldwide has some exposure to generative AI. That means tasks could change—not that one in four jobs will disappear. The study also says the choices we make will help shape what happens to workers. (Source: International Labour Organization)
Those choices matter.
If machines help us do more, how do we turn that into better lives?
More security. More time with family. More chances to learn and create.
That should be part of the plan.
Instead, we keep hearing about money.
More investment. More growth. More profit.
Gene Roddenberry imagined a Star Trek future where people have enough, and gathering wealth no longer drives their lives. (Source: StarTrek.com)
Then there’s Terminator and Skynet—a nightmare where humanity fights to survive.
In one imagined future, money loses its importance because everyone has enough.
In the other, your bank balance won’t save you.
Yet money is driving so many decisions in between.
That bothers me.
It also tells me where we need to push.
Give the anger a job.
Protect children. Have outside experts test products for dangerous behavior. Restrict products that fail. Hold companies responsible when they break the rules.
Respect creators. Demand clear information about where training material comes from. Push for permission and fair payment when creative work is used.
Protect communities. Make companies show how much water and power they need. Set firm limits. Give residents a voice before projects are approved.
Stand with workers. Let them help decide how AI changes their jobs. Push for useful training, support, and a share of the benefits.
Support the work that helps people—medical research, tools for people with disabilities, and aid that reaches people in need.
Pick one. Find others who care. Bring facts. Show up.
Keep asking until the answers turn into action.
We don’t have to solve everything before we do something.
Trying to put all of AI back into Pandora’s box may be harder than folding a rain poncho and getting it back into that little bag. LOL.
But we can stop harmful uses. Reject bad projects. Demand safer designs.
The tools are still changing. The rules are still being shaped. People speaking out now can help decide what happens next.
That’s why I want my friend in this conversation.
You don’t have to use AI. You don’t have to trust the companies building it.
Keep your questions. Keep your courage. Keep that fire.
But leave room for the person using it to help someone, express an idea, or solve a problem.
Listen to what they’re doing. Challenge them when they’re careless. Let them challenge you, too.
We may find more people in our corner than we thought.
And that’s where the fight can turn.
Think about the moment in a Rocky movie when he’s down.
He’s hurt. Exhausted. The other fighter looks too strong.
Then he looks toward his corner. Someone still believes in him.
And he gets up.
That’s where I see us.
Ordinary people. Artists. Parents. Teachers. Nurses. Workers. Scientists.
The other corner has money and power. We have people worth fighting for.
I want us to keep pushing until the good reaches more people and preventable harm is something we refuse to accept.
I can see that future: more people healing, learning, creating, and living with dignity.
We’ll have to work for it. We’ll have to build it together.
I’m getting up. And I’m bringing my brush.