Changing Perspectives - Philosophical Talk Series Fluent but Hollow: Why Nobody Fully Trusts AI

Generative AI has arrived faster than any technology before it. It can write, code, answer questions, and hold a conversation, and yet something feels off. It flatters us, confuses us, and occasionally makes things up with complete confidence. It's a little like that charming new friend who is fun to be around but somehow you never quite trust.

Three and a half years in, the picture is becoming clearer, and stranger. Bosses are mandating AI in the workplace, but productivity hasn't improved. Workers use it every day, but somehow it creates more tasks, not fewer. Companies are pouring billions into AI while using it as justification for mass layoffs, before the returns have even materialized. AI features are appearing in every app and device, often uninvited, and most people quietly ignore or resent them. And the people who built these systems? They can't fully explain how they work either.

This talk takes an honest look at how we arrived at this moment, and will try to offer some practical ideas for navigating a world increasingly shaped by technology that is powerful, but not quite what it promised to be.