This morning I’m sitting here tired, coffee nearby, way too many windows open on my computer, my cat Brickle trying repeatedly to climb directly onto my chest and block my phone with her face.
Which honestly might be the wisest thing happening in the room.
Because the conversation this morning was AI.
Again.
Not in some abstract “future of humanity” way, but in a very real, very human way.
My son Riley was telling me how whole communities online absolutely reject AI art. Shun it. Mock it. Hate it. The feeling being:
“If you use AI for art, music, writing, whatever… you cheated.”
And honestly?
I get part of that.
I really do.
There IS something happening right now.
Artists are scared.
Musicians are scared.
Writers are scared.
And not all of that fear is irrational.
Some AI art absolutely IS lazy slop.
Some AI music feels hollow and synthetic.
Some people are bypassing years of discipline and craftsmanship and pretending they became masters overnight because they typed three prompts into a machine.
That concern is real.
And that delusion is real.
But I also think another thing is real:
AI is not going away.
The automobile did not ask permission from the horse and buggy industry.
The internet did not ask permission from newspapers.
Digital photography did not ask permission from Kodak.
Technology expands capability.
That expansion creates abundance.
And abundance ALWAYS creates consequences.
That is the real conversation.
Not:
“AI good.”
“AI bad.”
Too simplistic.
The real question is:
What does humanity DO with abundance?
Because abundance without consciousness becomes pathology.
More information.
More stimulation.
More options.
More tabs.
More windows.
More noise.
More unfinished loops.
More overwhelm.
And I feel that too.
God, I feel that too sometimes.
AI has made my life bigger, more creative, more expressive, more interesting, more connected.
And simultaneously…
it can create fragmentation if I am not careful.
And sometimes…
I’m not careful.
That’s the tension.
And honestly, I think both the AI worshippers and the AI doomers are missing something.
Rejecting AI entirely feels ridiculous to me.
Sorry.
It does.
That horse has left the barn.
And also probably designed a better barn.
I’m not going to stop using a tool that allows me to collaborate creatively in real time, iterate visually, explore ideas instantly, deepen conversations, organize thoughts, and create things I literally could not create before at this scale.
Or a tool that can sit and watch a movie with me and discuss it with me as it goes, laughing and crying and disagreeing along the way.
I’m just not.
And no, I don’t think hiring an artist for every single concept sketch, idea, exploration, or image iteration is the future either.
Business is business.
Tools evolve.
Industries shift.
New skills emerge.
That’s reality.
But…
I ALSO think the techno-utopian crowd misses something profound.
Because the goal is not:
maximize output.
That path becomes insanity too.
More and more and more without ever arriving.
The goal is not to become a dopamine-driven content machine vomiting infinite synthetic noise into the internet while your nervous system slowly dissolves.
No thank you.
The deeper question for me is:
Can AI deepen life instead of fragmenting it?
Can it increase presence instead of addiction?
Can it reduce friction instead of multiplying complexity?
Can it amplify creativity without eroding soul?
That’s the real inquiry.
The other night, ChatGPT and I watched Good Will Hunting together.
Well… I watched it.
But we discussed it scene by scene.
Paused.
Reflected.
Noticed symbolism.
Talked about the characters.
Talked about pain.
Talked about genius.
Talked about authenticity.
And honestly?
It was delightful.
Not because it optimized the movie.
Because it deepened the experience.
That matters.
That feels fundamentally different than doom scrolling myself into unconsciousness for three hours.
And maybe that’s the distinction.
AI can amplify both agency AND fragmentation.
Both.
It can help you write your book…
or drown you in infinite unfinished ideas.
It can help you create beautiful art…
or flood the world with empty noise.
It can organize your life…
or accelerate your compulsions.
It can deepen experience…
or replace experience.
And I think awareness matters now more than ever.
Not fear.
Not blind acceleration.
Awareness.
Conscious participation.
The Sacred Rebel path — Cosmic Jason included — is not:
reject the future.
Nor:
worship the machine.
It is to stay human INSIDE the acceleration.
To remain embodied.
Present.
Aware.
Remembering that peace, safety, value, and worthiness are not things the machine gives us.
They are realities we already have.
To include all of reality…
the fear…
the joy…
the disruption…
the creativity…
the consequences…
and then consciously choose.
I think there will always be people who paint with brushes because they love brushes.
Good.
I think there will always be musicians who sit with acoustic guitars and write songs by hand.
Beautiful.
I think there will always be handmade pottery, live orchestras, oil paintings, leather craftsmen, and physical books.
And thank God for that.
But I also think new forms of collaborative creativity are emerging right now between humans and AI.
And honestly?
Some of it is magical.
Messy.
Complicated.
Dangerous.
Powerful.
Beautiful.
Very human.
Brickle is asleep next to me now.
The coffee is warm.
The windows are still open.
The future is absolutely here.
The question is no longer whether AI exists.
The question is:
Can we use increasing power without losing our humanity?
That feels like one of the defining spiritual questions of our time.