AI arrives precisely at the moment when an entire generation loses its ability to read, write, and sustain attention. When the human mind weakens, a substitute mind steps in. If a people can’t interpret text, can’t hold complexity, can’t question, can’t imagine — then the tool thinks for them. And once a tool starts thinking for you, it can start choosing for you.
Most Importantly: AI is not replacing intelligence; it’s replacing the practice that builds intelligence. When literacy drops, discernment drops. When discernment drops, narratives can be implanted. When narratives can be implanted, control becomes effortless. And that is exactly when AI enters the scene.
The bottom line:
A people who cannot read are a people who must be told. A people who cannot write are a people who cannot remember. A people who cannot think deeply are a people who can be guided anywhere.
The most important step to overcoming the new system is to educate our children. And that’s just not happening. That should be the biggest, most momentous effort right now—all our leaders should be talking and thinking about. In the end, it’s the only thing that matters.
I have no idea where you’re from. I can only tell you what I saw in my area. Sad that y’all were punished for reading material outside of the library. That didn’t happen in my school, I was excited that they were reading and even purchased the books my students were reading so that we could talk about the books they read. I hope that you’re right and I’m wrong about the ability to critical think about current events. If our younger generation doesn’t figure it out, then we are doomed.