Between Everywhere and Nowhere

Tag: being human

  • Artificial Intelligence Is Not to Blame for Your Stupidity

    Artificial Intelligence Is Not to Blame for Your Stupidity

    Lately, I’ve been surrounded by studies, tweets, and heated conversations all warning the same thing: artificial intelligence is making us dumber, lazier, and creatively numb. Some even argue that it will slowly replace our ability to think for ourselves.

    Ironically, I was the only person in my circle still living with pens and notebooks—no AI planning apps, no AI writing tools, not even AI search. As a translator, I thought that made me somewhat cool. But instead of being praised for my independence, I was criticized for being outdated, slow to adapt, even resistant to change. Classic human hypocrisy.

    Curious to test this for myself, I started using ChatGPT non-stop for a few months, in every possible area of my daily life. From writing emails to planning meals, from brainstorming ideas to drafting work notes—even for terminology discussions in translation assignments.

    What I discovered is simple: AI doesn’t make you stupid. You become mentally passive only if you hand over your thinking to a ready-made mechanism because it feels easier, not because it is inevitable.

    Fed by human data, AI does its best to navigate you, meet your demands, and address you in different voices. But here’s the key question: how much trust do you place in your own voice, your research skills, and your expertise? During this trial, ChatGPT couldn’t change my voice or override what I wanted to say—simply because I didn’t let it.

    The Real Risk

    As human beings, we dramatize new technologies far too much. Instead of sinking into the warm arms of laziness, we should use technology the way it was intended: as a support, not a substitute.

    Workloads are heavy, deadlines are unrealistic, and underpayment is exhausting. Sometimes, we don’t even have the energy left to think. Depending on AI may seem like salvation in those moments. But this dependency is dangerous, as recent research warns. An arXiv preprint even explored how people develop intimate, emotional bonds with AI partners, blurring the lines between authentic human interaction and machine-mediated connection.

    Balance Is Key

    That’s why I believe everything beyond reference is poison. Keep things in balance. Don’t lose your own voice or your mental battery. Don’t forget the joy of researching and creating.

    While it’s impossible to isolate ourselves completely from new technologies, we can choose how much we let them shape us. AI was created by humans—by us, fragile beings in flesh prisons. It is still just a tool, idle until you ask it to produce.

    Don’t let anything, or anyone, pull you away from your humanness or make your abilities seem less worthy. And don’t let opportunists persuade you that it’s normal to be replaceable. 

    Just let technology be your servant, not the other way around.

    💌hello@betweeneverywhereandnowhere.com

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  • Staying Human In These Days

    Staying Human In These Days

    Cover image © The Economist. Shared here under fair use, in the context of personal reflection.

    A lot has been happening in the world of politics these days. And it is always us – ordinary people, citizens, commoners, whatever name you give it – who end up carrying the burden of it all.

    Although the name of my blog is Between Everywhere and Nowhere, my country currently feels stuck in the Middle of a Politically Charged Everywhere. So, I didn’t want to scroll past current affairs this week.

    You’ve probably heard the saying: ‘Hard times create stronger people.‘

    I’d rather see this time as an opportunity for us to become truer humans. Not just stronger, not just survivors, but simply and fully human.

    But what is a human being, anyway? The Encyclopaedia Britannica defines us as ‘culture-bearing primates.’ I like that definition. I’d also add: a culture-bearing primate with free will.

    These days, we’re constantly bombarded with negativity. And no, I’m not saying it’s exaggerated. 

    Especially for us young adults, this ‘new world’ feels like a place where we work endlessly just to make it through another month. The future looks blurry. Sometimes, just having one meal a day feels like a blessing. And this harsh reality is what those in power expect us to normalize.

    Yet, through our virtual screens, we continue to witness each other’s lives, no matter where we’re from.

    One way or another, we’re all human, and we’re all in the same boat, even if the journey is different for each of us.

    But it’s easy to forget that. When you have no face, voice or name – when you’re just an anonymous user – it becomes easier for others to hate and judge you.

    Still, I don’t recommend hatred. It’s a very heavy, invasive feeling. It sits in your chest and grows like a weed. And it poisons the way we think. It disconnects us.

    These times offer us rare opportunities to prove our humanity, not through grand acts of philanthropy, but simply by staying close to our nature.

    This doesn’t mean acting on our instincts blindly. It means remembering that we’re primates with free will and that we can choose: not to join the noise, not to dehumanize others, and not to give up.

    While we shouldn’t forget our instincts – our need for safety, connection and survival – we must also not switch off the part that makes us truly human: the ability to pause, to reflect, and to act with intention.

    As Schopenhauer quotes from Voltaire in The Wisdom of Life: 

    ‘We have only two days to live; it is not worth our while to spend them in cringing to contemptible rascals.’

    They say hard times create strong people. I believe hard times also reveal real people, those who choose dignity over indifference.

    Pause before judging. Evaluate before embracing. Question before believing. Be determined not to become a prey to manipulative propaganda. Nurture logical tolerance and water the roots of your human side.

    We don’t need to save the world to stay human. But we can refuse to let it take our humanity away.

    And that, I truly believe, is what really matters.

    💌hello@betweeneverywhereandnowhere.com

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