There's an episode of The Twilight Zone, from late 1960, in which newlyweds Don and Pat Carter take shelter in an Ohio diner after their car breaks down en route to New York City.
asserted
car → be → City
Neither expects to be there long; an emergency mechanic just so happens to be around the corner.
asserted
mechanic → expect → corner
To pass the time, Don, played by a young William Shatner, starts feeding pennies into a fortune-telling napkin holder: a grinning devil's head answering yes-or-no questions for a penny-a-pop.
asserted
Don → pass → penny
What starts as harmless prompts soon becomes a compulsion as the machine somehow starts nailing the questions.
asserted
machine → start → questions
Next thing you know, Don's stuck in a loop, unable to leave the restaurant without asking the machine's thoughts.
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Don → know → thoughts
More than 60 years later, the machines answering our questions cost significantly more than a penny, and a new generation of young people are feeling trapped.
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generation → answer → people
Instead of fortune telling, their battle is with AI: a different kind of machine that answers with unsettling confidence and is getting harder to put down.
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that → answer → confidence
Elise Humphreys, 19, has never seen the episode.
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Humphreys → see → episode
But it's exactly how she feels about AI.
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she → feel → AI
"It stops me from being able to use my brain independently,"she said.
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It → stop → brain
Ms Humphreys is studying a double degree in International Relations and International Business at Perth's Curtin University, which encourages the "ethical" use of AI.
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which → study → AI
She's part of a generation that grew up fluent in technology — and one that studies show is increasingly hostile to it.
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studies → grow → it
"I think all kids are feeling like this …
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kids → think → this
we're scared, we don't want it to affect us long term, and we don't want to live in a world that's run by robots," she said.
asserted
she → want → robots
"It feels like a cheat code to me.
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It → feel → me
It feels like I'm not going to be as smart as the people who are currently in the field that I want to be in — because of AI."
asserted
I → feel → AI
Nearly 80 per cent of Australian students reported using generative AI while studying last year, a figure that jumps to 94 per cent in more recent international reports.
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that → report → reports
The latest Gallup study on AI in the US found gen Z's approach to the tool has "significantly" worsened, and that the majority of young people fear its use comes at a cost — particularly to learning.
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use → find → learning
Ms Humphreys admits she does fall into the trap of using AI.
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she → admit → AI
If she doesn't, she said, she'll be left behind.
asserted
she → do → ?
"I want to be able to create my own thoughts, my own opinion, rather than being reliant on AI … but I think that for me, studying, I can't study without it," she said.
asserted
she → want → it
The state of play
In the space of a week or so, calls to slow artificial intelligence down have gone from the margins of public debate to its centre.
asserted
calls → slow → centre
The public's on board: almost two-thirds of Australians believe AI is moving too fast, according to a recent study by the Minderoo Foundation.
uncertain
AI → believe → Foundation
Most think the risks AI poses outweigh the benefits.
asserted
AI → think → benefits
But AI isn't going anywhere, no matter how vociferously its protesters — many of whom have taken on the tongue-in-cheek name of decelerators or 'decels' — may argue the point.
uncertain
many → go → point
Jenson Rainbird, a 16-year-old high school student from Melbourne, is happy to take part in the technical deceleration by avoiding AI as much as possible.
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Rainbird → take → AI
"My [friendship] group vehemently hates AI — we do not like it one bit,"he said.
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we → hat → it
He's tried to cut it out of his life, though it still creeps in through Google searches and other study tools.
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it → try → searches
Jenson wants to be a lawyer when he finishes school and university.
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he → want → school
But for now, he feels locked out of the discussion about AI by virtue of the fact that he's too young to have a say in how it's implemented.
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it → lock → say
"We're going to be dealing with the leftovers and downsides to what the politicians and others are doing [about AI regulation], and we don't get a say in it," he said.
asserted
he → go → it
"We can protest and all that, but we can't actually vote.
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we → protest → ?
We could try and go into a minister's office or something like that, but they won't listen to us."
uncertain
they → try → us
Where Jenson Rainbird avoids AI, his father Justin has gone the other way entirely.
asserted
father → avoid → way
"If you don't get on board, you're going to fall behind," Mr Rainbird said.
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Rainbird → get → board
He sees it as an economic tool.
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He → see → tool
It's not taking someone else's job, he argues; it's adding value a company couldn't afford in the first place.
asserted
company → take → place
"I might be taking a coder's job, but not really, because there's no way we would have got funds to do the coding that it's doing for me.
uncertain
it → take → me
It just wouldn't have been economical," he said.
asserted
he → say → ?
Environmental concerns
AI crept up on 17-year-old Ingrid Miedecke.
asserted
AI → creep → Miedecke
…and 37 more, not listed.
The Aporia