{"id":2607724,"date":"2026-05-28T07:50:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T11:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ai-wont-destroy-your-life-unless-you-let-it\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T07:57:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T11:57:16","slug":"ai-wont-destroy-your-life-unless-you-let-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ai-wont-destroy-your-life-unless-you-let-it\/","title":{"rendered":"AI Won&#8217;t Destroy Your Life \u2014 Unless You Let It"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fai-wont-destroy-your-life-unless-you-let-it%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2607724&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The piece argues that although AI can appear highly intelligent-answering questions, recognizing patterns, imitating human language, and even generating media-it fundamentally doesn\u2019t replicate what makes human cognition human. It first points to common fears about AI (job displacement, environmental damage, threats to internet anonymity, harm to industries like music, and even catastrophic scenarios), but then shifts to a philosophical claim: whatever real risks AI poses, it won\u2019t truly become human.<\/p>\n<p>It explains human thinking in stages: people become aware of the world through the senses and of themselves as thinkers; over time they develop self-presence and a capacity to reflect; and they use \u201cinsight\u201d to synthesize experiences into coherent understanding.From these insights, humans make \u201cauthentic choices\u201d that involve rational judgment and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/it-would-be-an-irreparable-disaster-if-joe-biden-were-designated-president-of-the-united-states-archbishop-carlo-maria-vigano-warns-believers-in-latest-interview\/\" title=\"\u201cIt Would Be an Irreparable Disaster if Joe Biden \u2013 Were Designated President of the United States\u201d \u2013 Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano Warns Believers in Latest Interview with Steve Bannon\">moral responsibility<\/a>-decisions shaped by a dynamic process of questioning, evaluating evidence, and integrating outlook.<\/p>\n<p>Against that backdrop, the article contends that AI lacks the core ingredients of human cognition. AI operates by processing data and matching patterns within predefined parameters, with no genuine understanding or meaning-making. It can manipulate symbols syntactically but cannot access semantics in the way human consciousness does (illustrated through references like the \u201cChinese Room\u201d argument). It also doesn\u2019t possess spontaneity,reflection,self-awareness,subjectivity,or emotion-qualities the author treats as central to how humans learn,deliberate,and choose.<\/p>\n<p>the article argues that AI can\u2019t solve humanity\u2019s deepest problems because those involve quests for meaning, moral and intellectual maturation, and reflective, affective experience. The conclusion is that AI remains controllable \u201cdumb\u201d machinery; therefore, while societies should still worry about AI\u2019s effects on well-being, relationships, and economies, humans-not machines-ultimately retain responsibility for how it\u2019s used.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>There are many reasons to be worried about AI. It will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2025\/12\/21\/ai-job-cuts-amazon-microsoft-and-more-cite-ai-for-2025-layoffs.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">potentially put millions of people out of work<\/a>. It\u2019s a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/climate-solutions\/2025\/06\/19\/ai-chatgpt-energy-climate-change\/?itid=sr_1_658402d8-e396-4e74-b17c-03df653521f9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">threat to the environment<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2026\/03\/25\/artificial-intelligence-data-center-water\/?itid=sr_4_658402d8-e396-4e74-b17c-03df653521f9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">American landscape<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/2024\/06\/21\/artificial-intelligence-nuclear-fusion-climate\/?itid=sr_12_658402d8-e396-4e74-b17c-03df653521f9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">our electrical grid<\/a>. It portends the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/interactive\/2026\/04\/26\/artificial-intelligence-could-kill-anonymity-online\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">end of internet anonymity<\/a>. It will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/entertainment\/music\/2025\/12\/31\/ai-generated-pop-music\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ruin the music industry<\/a>. It will, we fear, attain consciousness, rebel against us, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/technology\/2026\/02\/27\/anthropic-pentagon-lethal-military-ai\/?itid=sr_0_de6e7303-7948-43d9-a922-ef789719e472\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">kill us all<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/2026\/05\/25\/pope-elevates-ai-ethics-religious-imperative-with-first-encyclical\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Even the pope<\/a> is warning about it.<\/p>\n<p>As impressive as artificial intelligence has already become across a variety of disciplines, from computer science to medicine to architectural design, for anyone who has sought to incorporate AI into their workflow or solve some problem around the house, it can still be, well, less than intelligent. It <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/mediacentre\/2025\/new-ebu-research-ai-assistants-news-content\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">gets the answer wrong<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/05\/05\/technology\/ai-hallucinations-chatgpt-google.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hallucinates<\/a>, often <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/11\/07\/business\/lawyers-ai-vigilantes.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">disastrously so<\/a> (in part because, as they say about data, \u201cgarbage in, garbage out,\u201d and the internet has a <em>lot <\/em>of garbage). As much as <em>The Terminator<\/em>, <em>Blade Runner<\/em>, and <em>The Matrix<\/em> series provoke endless nightmares of a future sentient robot apocalypse, the fact of the matter is that whatever real threats AI poses to human flourishing, it cannot and will not ever be human. Here\u2019s your cheat sheet as to why.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Are We Human?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>First things first, we need to appreciate what makes the way we think particularly <em>human<\/em>. As Paul O\u2019Hara and Steven Umbrello argue in their new book, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cuapress.org\/9780813240862\/can-ai-ever-be-human\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Can AI Ever Be Human? Consciousness Explored<\/em><\/a>, human knowledge begins with what philosophers call \u201cempirical consciousness,\u201d which involves becoming aware of objects through our senses, as well as becoming aware of ourselves as thinkers, something that is visible even in the first few years of human development. As we get older, we develop an internal awareness that involves \u201cself-presence and mastery,\u201d which enables us to reflect on our thoughts and feelings. We then leverage those thoughts and feelings to interpret sensory data around us. <\/p>\n<p>That process of cognition and interpretation involves something philosophers call <em>insight<\/em>, which is the result of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-10-best-jim-acosta-moments\/\" title=\"Top 10 &#039;Best&#039; Jim Acosta Moments\">meaningful questions<\/a> that demand meaningful answers \u2014 and a process that presupposes an <em>experience <\/em>that provoked those questions in the first place. These insights are \u201cconscious acts of understanding that synthesize disparate elements into a coherent whole,\u201d write O\u2019Hara and Umbrello. When we do this, we are engaged in a process of discovery that involves patterns, relationships, and mental structures to answer questions such as, \u201cWhat is it?\u201d We do this every day, from seemingly mundane activities such as grocery shopping or gardening, to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-biden-suffers-awkward-dementia-scare-in-meeting-with-democratic-lawmaker\/\" title=\"Report: Biden Suffers \u2018Awkward... Dementia Scare in Meeting With Democratic Lawmaker\">complex tasks<\/a> such as deciding how to address a challenging issue at work.<\/p>\n<p>To wit, humans then shift from practical insights to practical decisions, which are \u201cauthentic choices that align our actions with our true selves.\u201d Those decisions integrate all the forms of human understanding \u2014 what is empirically known, what is practical, and the process of reflection \u2014 with \u201crational judgment and moral responsibility.\u201d That choice is neither mechanistically reflexive nor required but dependent on the individual will of each person. It is inherently dynamic, a back-and-forth process of questioning and insight, in which we evaluate the validity and reliability of what we think, study evidence, and ponder perspectives. <\/p>\n<h2><strong>AI Ain<\/strong>\u2019<strong>t Any of That<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Granted, AI can do some pretty impressive things. Yes, whether based on algorithms that are either deterministic (fixed computation rules) or stochastic (incorporating randomness and probabilistic methodologies), AI can process data, identify patterns, and spit out statistical correlations reliant on <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >increasingly complex machine learning models<\/a>. It can imitate human knowledge in problem-solving, seem to understand language, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/brian-kolfage-one-florida-school-combated-covid-by-going-back-to-normal-as-a-result-the-children-and-teachers-are-safe-and-happy\/\" title=\"Brian Kolfage: One Florida School Combated COVID By Going Back to Normal \u2013 As a Result the Children and Teachers Are Safe and Happy\">make decisions<\/a> as we do. This is why it can be trained to perform sophisticated tasks associated with computer programming, create \u201cdeep fake\u201d images and videos, and even write entire books or music. <\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, AI\u2019s processing of enormous amounts of data and identification of patterns is by definition deterministic, operating within predefined parameters. AI is merely executing programmed responses that are \u201ctranscribed into binary code, transmitted as binary code, and ends with binary code,\u201d note O\u2019Hara and Umbrello. Or, as Dave Gershgorn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomorrowsworld.org\/magazines\/2021\/august\/in-our-own-image\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explains<\/a>: \u201cThere is no understanding; it\u2019s just matched patterns.\u201d The simple word \u201cyes,\u201d for example, which in human communication has complex textures and meanings based on context, in the ASCII encoding scheme is the sequence 01111001 01000101 01010011.<\/p>\n<p>For AI, there is no spontaneity, creativity, or reflection as there is in human decision-making. There is no possession of self-awareness or subjective experience. As philosopher John Searle\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chinese_room\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chinese Room<\/a>\u201d experiment shows, AI manipulates rules-based symbols (syntax), but it cannot ascertain meaning (semantics). AI does not create insights or leverage judgment based on the type of reflective consciousness and rational deliberation I\u2019ve described above. <\/p>\n<p>Moreover, it lacks the faculty of emotion, which plays an integral role in human decision-making. When humans learn, they do so via a complex variety of emotional states: They may be genuinely interested, bored, or feel a certain compulsion driven by an academic or professional need. Not so computers \u2014 they acquire information solely because their creator tells them to, within the parameters set by their creator, and as long as they\u2019re connected to a power source. <\/p>\n<h2><strong>Zeros and Ones Can<\/strong>\u2019<strong>t Solve Our Deepest Problems<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Whether you\u2019re a techbro or a lonely teenager, it\u2019s easy to be tempted into thinking we\u2019re only a few technological advancements from making humans out of machines. Certainly, AI is capable of solving <em>some <\/em>problems, but not the most important ones we face. AI does not pursue the quest for meaning, including how to understand and negotiate suffering. It is incapable of the kind of self-reflection and deliberation that leads to a change of opinion. It will experience no intellectual or moral maturation or religious conversion. All of these occur precisely because of the unique ways humans cogitate. <\/p>\n<p>Humans, thankfully, are not machines. Our brains are not reducible to sophisticated computers. The human experience is not purely mechanistic, but reflective, affective, and experiential. As O\u2019Hara and Umbrello wryly note, artificial intelligence \u201cis an oxymoron.\u201d It will always be a \u201cdumb machine that can be controlled by us, for better or worse.\u201d That doesn\u2019t mean we shouldn\u2019t fear AI and what it does to our well-being, our relationships, the job market, or the economy. But it means we, as reflective and deliberative beings, get to decide what to do with it.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Casey Chalk is a senior contributor at The Federalist and an editor and columnist at The New Oxford Review. He is a regular contributor at many publications and the author of three books, including the upcoming &#8220;Wisdom From the Cross: How Jesus\u2019 Seven Last Words Teach Us How to Live (and Die)&#8221; (Sophia Institute Press, 2026).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many fear AI will take jobs and harm society, leading to worst-case outcomes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":658,"featured_media":2607725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Man-Using-Laptop-with-Chat-GPT.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[51738,27464,8182,80384],"class_list":["post-2607724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-ai-2","tag-mindset","tag-productivity","tag-responsible-technology"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Man-Using-Laptop-with-Chat-GPT.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2607724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2607724"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2607724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2607732,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2607724\/revisions\/2607732"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2607725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2607724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2607724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2607724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}