AI will kill us, just not as portrayed in the movies. It’s not going to be Skynet. No “rise of the machines.” It’s going to be dealing with the stupidity of AI that’s the equivalent of dealing with a telephone’s IVR systems – that phone maze that never takes you to the right place, let alone to a person, loops you around to the top a few times before finally giving up and hanging up on you.

On the tech podcasts, “Zip Recruiters” seems to have been buying up a bunch of advertising. Their claim to (alleged) fame seems to be their AI matching job seekers and their resumes to open positions. Sure, why not – I’ll give it a try…

What a demoralizing nightmare of a system! “Phil,” my virtual head-hunter, is worthless.

Let me give a simple example. Where I live, technical people with security clearances are in routine demand. Me? I used to live in that world, and I left it. There were a few reasons, but at the forefront was my son’s diagnosis with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. I wanted to be home with him. Even 10 miles away is infinitely far when you can’t just hop on the phone, pop open a computer video call, or just pop by the house whenever necessary.

So, what does Phil think about all this? Well, Phil asks politely what I think about each of his suggestions. I do not have the necessary certifications (i.e., clearance). I do not meet the minimum requirements (i.e., clearance). Other: “I do not have a clearance nor am I seeking one. I’ve told you several times before: please stop recommending these positions.” (Who knows, maybe Phil’s human supervisor will take a look at the free-form form block every so often?)

No surprise: Phil doesn’t listen, and life’s a little short for me to spend all of my time training Phil to get it right. There’s no value in that service for me.

I know, I know… There are sectors where AI advancements are absolutely amazing. I’ve almost been duped before with some automated help desk implementations posting “employee” pictures for that human touch. It didn’t take Blade Runner-type skill to determine there was nothing on the back-end of those exchanges, but for more simple things? Who knows? But Phil here? That’s time sunk I’m not getting back.

The AI doesn’t have to become self-aware. It doesn’t have to draw any conclusion about human inadequacy. It just has to be itself.