AI Is an Insult Now

If you want to really hurt someone's feelings in the year 2023, just call them an AI. An all-star cast of celebrities and public figures have recently been the victim of such jokes: the NBA player Jordan Poole ("AI Steph Curry"), Raquel Leviss from the reality-TV show Vanderpump Rules ("what would happen if you asked chat GBT [sic] to create an American girl"), Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg ("our first A.I. cabinet member?"). That these slights span the three pillars of American life--sports, politics, Bravo--suggests that no one, or rather nothing, is safe. Such digs have popped up all over social media; on Twitter alone, insults like these have been levied against TV shows, songs, sports uniforms, commencement speeches, White House press releases, proposed legislation, and lots of news articles. That AI has become an attack is a result of the huge moment for AI we're in.