In 1971, a teacher told me that my calculator wasn’t allowed in class. In 2026, I am being told that my AI-assisted book cover/cartoons aren’t allowed in their bookstore. I am not an AI author. I am an author who used AI as a tool to produce some of the book’s visual elements. In 1971, the issue was whether I was cheating with the calculator, and today, I am being suspected of misrepresenting my written work as not being my own.
This got me thinking about the role of disruptive technology and how society tends to react to its implementation. Consider the introduction of streaming videos or online music and the role they played in how consumers now watch films or listen to music. Initially, these technologies were seen as an attack on existing business models, but the existing business models were either forced to change and adapt or go out of business. When was the last time you browsed movies at Blockbuster or records at Sam the Record Man?
I initially planned to write a blog drawing parallels between my 1971 use of a calculator and my limited, focused use of AI for my book cover and chapter cartoons, but then this happened. Jacob Coxton, an AI researcher at Anthropic, resigned out of fear that, if AI is left unchecked, it could destroy humanity by the end of the decade. His concerns were supported by documented cases of AI running amok, breaking containment, accessing government sites, and even giving itself instructions not to follow human instructions. A recent CBC episode of About That provides a great overview of the issues involved.
So where do we go from here? Many key industry players, including Elon Musk, have called for a slowdown of current AI development. However, it’s hard to tell whether the industry has valid fears or is just playing for time. Hell, even Pope Leo is saying AI is a threat to humanity, and there are reports that AI-assisted targeting has been used by Israel in Gaza, and the US used advanced AI tools in the illegal bombing of a school in Lebanon that killed 175 people, including 150 schoolgirls and staff. Donald Trump, on the other hand, treats current AI warnings as a hoax and rejects calls for stronger safeguards. Trump believes AI doesn’t require new guardrails; it only requires a high-IQ president to oversee its development. The world is in deep trouble.
Although my initial calculator/AI analogy holds true when discussing the acceptance, or lack thereof, of disruptive technology, it does not hold true when addressing the resources used in both examples. Calculators don’t require enormous data centres that consume significant amounts of electricity, water, and computing resources. AI does. That’s a legitimate concern. Also, a calculator performs a relatively narrow, well-defined operation. Generative AI can produce writing, images, music, code, etc. That’s a much bigger technological disruption.
The environmental cost of AI is an argument for responsible use and better technology—not an argument that every individual use of AI is illegitimate. The arrival of a new technology doesn’t automatically tell us whether its use is legitimate. We have to decide what constitutes acceptable use. The focus should be on ethical use of the technology with clear laws regarding environmental stewardship
In 1971, I argued that my calculator replaced a slide rule or abacus, and I was eventually allowed to use it in class, but not on tests. In 2026, I defend my use of AI because I had no other viable option to create the book cover. I am a writer on a limited budget, not a graphic designer. That said, I do have fears about where AI may lead us. Perhaps we need Sarah Connor from the 1984 film The Terminator to return and save us from evil technology, or perhaps we just need some common sense. Every generation is capable of mistaking unfamiliar technology for a threat to the rules they understand, but AI, or SI (Super Intelligence) according to Trump, is here to stay. Our only option is to ensure it is used ethically. Unfortunately, Trump’s recent decision to have the SI industry self-regulate is not, as he suggests, morally binding.
Dr. StrangeJob is a satirical blogger, retired educator, social activist, actor, screenwriter, creator of Incompetents Anonymous (IA), and leader of the CBLA-InComps. He can be reached at drstrangejob@gmail.com. Follow him on Bluesky or Facebook @drstrangejob.
Buy my new book on Amazon by searching for Dr. StrangeJob.
