Rantings about AI and Humanity
by John Henry (July 2025)
We are all irritated by a variety of issues in our lives: social issues, politics, wars, taxes, death (and now AI). When recent news indicates that we have been manipulated into accepting simple everyday processes from handling, ingesting, and storing food, to cosmetics, clothing, furniture, and multiple everyday items for nearly all our lives—as clean, nutritious, safe and good—to then find out that many of these conveniences and modern inventions are now determined to be harmful to our bodies, then we have a real existential crisis. We can mention that fluoride is not good for you. Food coloring and seed oils are cancerous, and the list goes on. One days eggs and meat are bad for you, the next year they are not. Don’t stay in the sun but we need vitamin D from the sun, and it goes on and on.
Yesterday two friends and I went to a niche fast food style Cuban restaurant, located at the end of a strip mall. The coffee was amazing and we had omelets, eggs, beans, and fries. All very tasty.
However, the utensils were plastic, the cups Styrofoam as well as the plates. Agghhh!
I had been thinking about the plastics issue again and realized that we have been brushing our teeth with plastic bristle toothbrushes for at least 70 years! I went to the local food store, Publix, and asked for half a loaf of bread at the deli counter. The helpful worker disappeared for 3 minutes, he was washing his hands and came back pulling on plastic gloves. Then he reached into the bread box with a piece of sheet plastic, grabbed the bread, wrapped it in waxy paper and then put it into a plastic bag.
At the checkout, they don’t even ask for plastic or paper anymore. It’s plastic.
I was at the hospital with a sick friend 6 days ago. The tubes coming out of the wall are hardened clear pvc. The IV is in a plastic bag. All the medication prescribed is in plastic containers, etc. etc. Our water supply to our houses is delivered in pvc piping. (see below for toxicity rating.)
The shampoo is in plastic bottles. My desktop keyboard is plastic. My car seats are mostly some kind of polyvinyl. Nearly all apparel, kitchen tools, toilet paper, and furniture is wrapped in plastic. My glasses the same. Straws? Plastic.How many years have you sipped through plastic straws? Tires are a rubber that disintegrates into our environment. And then we breathe it. My T square, triangles, and scale? Plastic. My pencil holder and pens for years: plastic. Linoleum floors that we would walk on barefooted? A cancerous petroleum product.
There is the amount of about a single deli plastic spoon in our brains. We are now just waking up to this disaster, the microplastic detritus, which has been now blamed for:
- Endocrine Disruption:
• Hormonal Imbalances:Chemicals released from plastics, acting as endocrine disruptors, can interfere with hormone production and function.
• Reproductive Issues:Concerns have been raised about potential links between exposure to these chemicals and reduced fertility, gonadal damage, and decreased sperm quality.
• Developmental Problems:Exposure during critical developmental stages, especially during pregnancy, can potentially lead to adverse effects on fetal development and long-term health outcomes.
– - Respiratory Issues:
• Inflammation and Damage:Inhalation of airborne plastic particles can lead to inflammation and damage within the respiratory system.
• Increased Risk of Respiratory Diseases:Studies, particularly in occupational settings with high exposure, have indicated a potential link between inhaling plastic particles and developing respiratory diseases like asthma, chronic bronchitis, and lung cancer.
– - Potential Link to Cancer:
• Ingested Microplastics and Colon Cancer:Some research suggests a possible association between ingesting microplastics and an increased risk of colon cancer.
• Occupational Exposure and Cancer Risk:Workers in industries handling plastics, like those involved in rubber and plastic production, may face a higher risk of certain cancers, including leukemia and bladder cancer.
– - Neurological Effects:
• Neurotoxicity:Animal studies suggest potential neurotoxic effects from microplastic exposure, including neuron damage and cognitive dysfunction.
• Potential Link to Neurological Disorders:While more research is needed, some studies have hinted at a possible association between exposure to plastics or their components, like styrene, and neurological disorders.
– - Other Potential Effects:
• Immune System Dysfunction:Exposure to MNPs may disrupt the immune system, potentially leading to increased susceptibility to infections and autoimmune diseases.
• Metabolic Issues:Microplastic exposure has been linked to potential metabolic disturbances, including lipid metabolism disturbances and disruptions in gut microbiota.
• Cardiovascular Disease:The presence of microplastics in carotid artery plaque has been linked to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and death.
Do you know what plasticizers do? Plasticizers are used to convert PVC, a rigid plastic, into a soft, flexible, and elastic material. Great. Note that poisoning by these petro-derivatives are particularly bad for women and children.
Plastics are generally ranked for toxicity based on their polymer type, with certain types like polystyrene (PS) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) being considered more problematic than others. Numbers 2, 4, and 5 are generally considered safer, while numbers 1, 3, 6, and 7 are recommended to be avoided. It’s important to note that all plastics can potentially leach chemicals when heated or damaged.
Women and children are particularly susceptible to these toxic chemicals. Exposures can have severe or long-lasting adverse effects on several key periods of a women’s life and may impact the next generations. Exposures during fetal development and in children can cause, for example, neurodevelopmental/neurobehavioral-related disorders. Men are not spared either, with the latest research documenting substantial detrimental effects on male fertility due to current combined exposures to hazardous chemicals, many of which are associated with plastics.
Plastic bottles for drinking and food storage are labeled based on their safety:
Plastic Numbers to Avoid for Food:
#3 (PVC): Polyvinyl Chloride, generally not safe for food storage due to potential leaching of harmful chemicals. Often used in packaging or pipes.
#6 (PS): Polystyrene, not recommended for food storage, especially when exposed to heat. Common in disposable cutlery and coffee cups.
#7 (Other Plastics): This category can include a variety of plastics, some of which might contain BPA. Baby bottles and some water bottles are sometimes made from number 7 plastic, but they should be checked for the presence of BPA.
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Important Considerations:
BPA: Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical that can leach from some plastics, especially those marked with a number 7 and the letters “PC” (polycarbonate). BPA is a concern for health, especially in children.
Microwaving: Never microwave food in plastic containers, especially those marked with a number 7, as this can increase the risk of chemical leaching.
Reusable Containers: When reusing plastic containers, it’s best to use those made from numbers 1, 2, 4, or 5.
Food Grade Plastics: Some plastics are specifically designed for food contact and are labeled as “food-grade.” These plastics are generally considered safe.
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Safer Alternatives:
First-grade virgin plastic (PP or HDPE): Considered safer for storing drinking water.
Stainless steel, glass, or silicone:Reusable bottles made from these materials are often considered safer alternatives to plastic.
This country’s manufacturing and economy strongly relies on plastics to support packaging and distribution of liquids, food, and medicine. Plastics or petroleum based products are used in high tech, manufacturing, clothing, cleaning, automobiles, aerospace, etc. They are in shampoos and other soaps.
Houston, we have a problem. A very big one. Every day there is microplastic in our environment, in the fish and animals and human beings, in our lakes, rivers and oceans. All plastic must be banned immediately. Our lives have been degraded for at least 70 years, the guilty parties being in cahoots with industry and the government. We must go back to paper, string bags, cardboard, etc.
We have another looming problem: AI, Artificial Intelligence and Terminators.
This innovation is not entirely new (developed in the mid-50s) but has logarithmically grown in the past two years so fast that many tech-heads cannot even describe what is going on right now.
Lately I have noticed a lot of obviously AI produced ads as I doomscroll on my plastic phone. They are not real people and have a jerky look about them with repeated gestures—fake—but are taking advantage of the latest ability to upload several photos of a human and then animate them with movements from text prompts. Any human model. Written news feeds are sloppy and have not been edited at all. It’s embarrassing and an insult. This and other examples of messy art and writing are termed “AI slop.” Fine. Get rid of it. I want humans back in charge.
Advertising agencies and Hollywood producers are perfecting this and a very recently released version by Google (imaging) looks to be able to completely bypass all normal film production. The implications for script writers, actors, directors, producers and the grips, etc. are pretty sobering. And the major studios can’t wait to use it.
The recent examples of music production using AI seem 80 percent there but have no real powerful compositional or vocal/instrumental hooks. I hope this all gets banned. A recent report by NPR claims that those who rely on ChatGPT to write essays, reports, research, etc. are losing their ability to compose sentences and get their thoughts across. They are weakening mentally. This is happening in the schools, research facilities, in law, government, and all over the media.
Which brings us up to the main reason I am writing this today.
AI is a machine-created system. It deals with computer code and scraped information. It is programmed to create as perfect a counterfeit photo, painting, essay, or music composition as possible.
However, before computing and machines (let’s say, the Industrial Age of 1760 to 1950) —about two hundred years—humankind produced everything by hand. Agriculture, stone buildings, handwritten manuscripts, literature and law, philosophy, musical scores and live music (‘classical’ orchestra to early jazz).
The ancient Greeks imparted the heritage of their forefathers via song and verbal repetition. No one could read or write very well a few thousand years ago. The temples to the gods had statues depicting real or imagined events that the citizen could ‘read’. The stone was hewn by hand and set into place by ropes and muscle.
People at that time had no newspapers, radio, etc. and hung around in the marketplace under porches (Stoa) and chewed the fat. Any traveler who naturally went to the central gathering place was quizzed about regional goings on. Scouts and commerce informed others what was happening politically. It was face to face communication. People talking to people. And thinking. The thinking led to great philosophy and commentary about the human condition. We no longer are privileged to enjoy this system of introspection and invention.
The temples were beautiful, but not perfect. The lyre was wonderful to listen to but no two pieces of music sounded exactly the same. Some words and ideas were lost by the retelling. Statuary, pottery, and art were crude but became quite refined during the late classical period. They too told stories about men and their gods and their relationships.
The Renaissance uncovered the architecture of the ‘ancients’ and humanism was born, a deviation from pure religion, but the artisans and architects continued to tell story through the design of their buildings.
We continued to meet and talk to each other in person, we wrote letters on paper that were hand delivered. People met at cafes and the Stoa was reinvented, while more art, philosophy and politics was discussed. The local government met as ‘Ecclesia’ to discuss issues of all kinds, from land squabbles to military and economic policy, etc.
While music was typically played live, it was the only respite for many as the works were typically played or sung in cathedrals and then smaller venues.
Carpenters, goldsmiths, leather workers, garment makers, musicians, farmers, stone masons, soldiers, writers, artists all worked with their hands to create a product. And while things were not perfect, they were revered for their beauty and astonished generations starting from the Pyramids to the Eiffel Tower. These people were proud of their work. The greatest art, architecture, literature, philosophy, and music was created without computing and most without the written word. All accomplished by hand.
The Industrial Revolution aimed to standardize and mass produce. Machines were devised to reduce labor and offer cheaper and more durable products. This went on through the major World Wars and our economy was pumping on eight cylinders.
The U.S. and other developing countries were using similar methods to cast iron, stamp out forks and knives, build refrigerators and stoves, run cars off of assembly lines by the thousands, and even offer up modular houses (Sears and Montgomery Ward). In every case, the machines employed were upgraded and honed to fine tolerances so that the product was perfected further.
This upgrading and improvement was applied to computing when first introduced and we saw simple moveable hard drives, floppy drives, limited RAM, etc. turn into solid state computing with no moving parts.
These computers, with advanced chips, like the behemoth Nvidia (by the way, Nvidia is named after the Greek goddess which translates into Nemesis, associated with envy and the evil eye. Think about that!) are now responsible for the artificial intelligence which is portending to simplify our work lives and offer an advance in data recovery and recombination, the likes of which no human has ever had in the power of their hands.
Now this is where we stop and ask: Is this Good or Bad? Well, about a year ago there were great concerns about the ethics and future effects of AI on humanity, but the major players decided to sell out recently and not think about those issues anymore. They are on Defcon 3 to produce the biggest Data Centers possible in order to outdo their competitors and our enemies worldwide. Great.
Which leaves us pondering … do we want perfection in everything that we do or make? Will that perfection overcome us? What have we enjoyed in the past that was not entirely perfect?
Let’s quickly revisit the creation, production and marketing of music…
I would say about 15 to 20 years ago, music was ‘delivered’ to the public using a completely different mechanism than it is now. Even before that, when The Crooner (Frankie) got up to a microphone with an orchestra behind him, his intonation and modulation were an interactive collaboration between a vocalist and the musicians behind him. ‘My Way’ was recorded in about 15 different speeds/phrasings and those covering the song changed things up to their liking even more.
Music, like speech, is conducted through air.
Contemporary music (jazz/rock/blues/classical), was recorded from instruments making sound in the air and captured via microphones on analog systems and stamped into vinyl. They were played back through vacuum tubes and transistors through moving speaker cones, similarly in many cases to the way they were transmitted and recorded.
Then something happened.
The digital world intervened. The powers that be figured people were tired of cleaning the records and didn’t take care of the disc stratus well enough to eliminate pops and scratches, etc. From 8 tracks to cassettes to reel to reel, all was thrown out in favor of sampling an electronic signal. Digital could never recreate a sine wave. What we got was perfected machine-devolved sound. It has never been smooth, never as warm, never as REAL, as a good analog tape or vinyl rendition.
But we have accepted that. In fact, most of us don’t even play our CDs anymore. We listen through crummy smart phones and mediocre desk top speakers. Indeed, ‘high fidelity’ is no more.
We have gotten lazy. We used to physically pore over albums at the music store and read the liner notes, etc. We actually paid money to have a record collection. We used to invite friends over to listen to music. We actually tried to play it ourselves. While there were ‘bands’ and ‘groups’ creating music until about 5 years ago, now we have do it yourself single artists working from their basement or sitting on their beds with digital sampling and beats cranking out their ‘original’ works.
Now, the frantic music producers (who are run by the main media companies now) stream what is ‘liked’ more than what is deemed quality. Obviously, the more likes, the more marketable, and more profit. The masses have won. The gatekeepers are gone. And that goes not only for music talent scouts, but good writing editors, news writers, copywriters, etc. Original artists actually drawing or painting are next to go. The crass perfection of the machine has triumphed.
In architecture the computer AI available can concoct the most outrageously amazing designs that humans can barely draw by hand. It started, in this country, with a guy named Gehry who used naval computing software to create working drawings of crumpled paper models. It has advanced so that anybody can simply write a prompt like this: “Create a parametric high rise condominium tower overlooking a water way. Show interconnecting roads and group with other like buildings with sky bridges. Include swimming pools, and biophilic covering. Show a dusk view aerial with dramatic lighting” In less than 15 seconds you can get this, and for free (and three alternatives!).
Who do you think is going to lose their job in the construction field? Why, people like me! So, I market myself as designing buildings all by hand!
Let’s get back to the point I am making, which is, that perfection is not a human possibility. We were not born perfect, we do not act or think perfectly, we make many mistakes, yet learn from them and forge ahead. I am not sure I mused to myself at any time, “John, you shall strive to be a perfect architect.” No, my goal is to make my clients very pleased and to end up with something outstandingly beautiful that will stand the test of time.
On the other hand, AI is developed to give us the most perfect answers and solutions for literature, art and music, as possible. If not that goal, what you have can degenerate into slop. And no one wants slop. One train of thought is that as AI scrapes more of the current output that it is responsible for, the quality will drop and get worse over time, due to ‘hallucinations’ and other issues built into the source data—which is getting worse in syntax, spelling, tense, etc. Another prevalent group says that the AI machines are nearly perfect and will be sentient within months. Do you want your machines and robots to have any human fallacies? Not really. See ‘I Robot’ and others similar. So, AI must necessarily strive for perfection.
Now for the final rant…
I type this piece, and will not check it with AI, using muscle memory through my fingers. The way things are going, we are will lose all memory of physical functions. Did you know that those who write with a pen or pencil in hand learn more and improve their communication skills at a higher rate than those using smart phones, texting, emailing, AI, etc.
Our current graduates from high school and college are exposed to the highest technical aids available. No one goes to the library, no one actually picks up a physical book and ‘reads’ it. All information is given and spewed out on a computer screen. It is all flickering images.
Computer AI is generating avatars and friends and more. Just great. Socialization is disintegrating. The numbers of marriages are falling. Interested parties are skimming through dating sites. We are using automated systems to send out emails for marketing purposes; we are relying on websites and social media accounts to attract business. How’s it working? The gains are diminishing. When everyone has the same tech, then what? Further loss of simple to complicated jobs and vocations. An evening out of the marketplace, a lowering of the standard of living.
We can barely scribble our signatures on paper. We sit behind computers or caress and swipe at handhelds all day long. We have absolutely lost the connections we used to have with each other.
Digital machine generated connectivity has replaced the air we used to share between each other.
Like the natural musical instrument that delivered a captivating or enchanting sound directly from the hand or mouth, an idea or story retold from one person through air and to the ear of another, our human interactions have been abrogated by an intermediary: the Son (AI) of Frankenstein (machines and computing).
The air is gone.
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Final Rant. GenZ and other youngsters are losing the ability to communicate face to face, as they spend too much time doom scrolling on their electronic devices. They text each other and watch influencers, which leads to psychological problems. They are not going out with each other to do things in pairs or groups. They text, Tik Tok, IG, SmartChat, whatever. They are avoiding human contact. We used to play board games, play outside every day until the sun set. They cannot play musical instruments or pick up a pencil to draw anything as they would rather type a few prompts into an AI program. They have no idea what research means. They are losing the ability to problem-solve in a variety of situations.
In addition, they’re losing muscle fitness, which affects other cognitive abilities. It is obvious that we have an obesity issue. These kids haven’t managed the heavy Schwinn bikes we used to ride, climbing trees, playing tag, hanging from jungle gyms; they are shying away from sports, they are inside all day long typically, most have never poked a shovel in the ground or lifted heavy objects. They don’t know what’s under the hood or have even changed a tire. They don’t play with blocks or erector sets, don’t collect stamps or coins, don’t have model railroads or enjoyed slot cars. They are not good with their hands, except to scroll and text quickly. We ran, played tag and hopscotch, marbles, skated, rode our bikes, hung from ropes over creeks, climbed rock hills, and pelted each other with dirt clods, etc. We walked to school for up to two miles every day. GenZ’s have been coddled in Cadillac Escalades all the way to school and back every day. The foods they eat are not healthy and tend to binge on the worst.
They’re being constantly psychologically manipulated. For all their lives from kindergarten to the university, the left has brainwashed them and unfolded narratives that are specious, presented a skewed vision of the world, portrayed minorities as victims, encouraged gender issues that our generation never considered and if wondered about, grew out of them quickly. The education system has failed these children and young adults from a rigorous scholastic curriculum, instead feeding them slanted social and political issues and ideologies that make them question authority routinely and impart no respect for any rules of living in general and to oppose government in particular. And we wonder why there are so many young people rioting in the streets.
As it stands now, they are not prepared for a new world that threatens the end of electronic gadget communications and laptop work by a vast workforce trained to employ these time saving technologies for profit and the benefit of mankind. AI is taking over nearly every potential job based on electronics, engineering, computing (code writing), organization and management, accounting, etc. White collar positions in large IT, tech, scientific, and in the corporate world are in jeopardy now and will displace millions. These kids need to wake up now and see the writing on the wall.
We may have to consider going to a pre-industrial lifestyle, perhaps a steampunk world where we go back to basic tools while a cream of the top elite are prompting gigantic AI data banks to get everything thought out for the planet. Yes, I am a bit of a Luddite. I admit it. But perhaps a sophisticated one.
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One Response
John Henry has alerted us once more with a devastating compendium of the long term effects stemming from artificial intelligence producing social isolation coupled with the degradation of our physical environment. This “double wammy” is something we leave behind to the following generations.
His work should form the core of efforts to offset and reduce this threat. It must form a national debate leading to a resolve to deal with these multiple assaults on our civilization. If not, we are doomed.