“AI is ruining everything” got 2,100 upvotes on Reddit last week, and honestly? I get it.
The post read like a therapy session for anyone who’s tried to use Google lately. Customer service chatbots that loop endlessly. Search results stuffed with AI-generated garbage. Creative work drowning in a sea of algorithmic slop. The original poster wasn’t just venting. They were articulating something a lot of us have been feeling but couldn’t quite name.
But here’s the thing: while the frustration is completely valid, some of the conclusions aren’t quite right. And understanding the difference matters if you actually want to make your digital life better instead of just angrier.
What People Mean When They Say AI Is Ruining Everything
Let’s break down the specific complaints, because they’re not all the same problem:
Google Search Has Gotten Worse
This one’s real. Search for almost anything now and you’ll wade through AI-generated “content” that exists purely to capture clicks. Recipe sites that bury the actual recipe under 2,000 words of AI-written backstory. Product reviews clearly written by bots. “Helpful” articles that say nothing useful in the most verbose way possible.
The original Reddit post specifically called out trying to research health topics and getting flooded with garbage results. I’ve experienced this firsthand. Last month I searched for information about a medication interaction and the top results were clearly AI-generated content farms that just rephrased WebMD articles poorly.
Customer Service Is Now a Chatbot Maze
You’ve probably lived this one. You have a simple question that requires a two-minute conversation with a human. Instead, you spend 20 minutes fighting a chatbot that doesn’t understand what you’re asking, offers irrelevant “solutions,” and makes it nearly impossible to reach an actual person.
Companies love this because it saves them money. Customers hate it because it wastes their time. The Reddit poster described this as “companies using AI as a barrier between you and help,” which is exactly right.
Creative Work Is Being Devalued
Artists, writers, musicians, and other creative professionals are watching AI tools flood their markets with cheap imitations. A friend who does freelance illustration told me recently that some of her regular clients have stopped hiring her for certain projects because they can “just use AI.” The work isn’t as good, but it’s good enough for their purposes and costs almost nothing.
This isn’t theoretical. It’s happening right now, and it’s affecting real people’s livelihoods.
The “Dead Internet” Feeling
There’s a growing sense that the internet itself has become less human. Bots talking to bots. AI-generated comments. Fake reviews. Synthetic influencers. According to recent studies, over 57% of written content online may now be AI-generated in some way. The Reddit poster captured this perfectly: “It feels like the internet is dying.”
What the AI Is Ruining Everything Critics Get Right
The complaints above aren’t imaginary. They’re describing real problems that affect real people every day:
- Information quality has declined. When anyone can generate infinite content with AI, the signal-to-noise ratio gets worse for everyone.
- Companies are using AI to reduce costs in ways that harm customers. That chatbot isn’t there to help you. It’s there to make it harder and more frustrating for you to get help, so some percentage of people give up.
- Creative professionals are being squeezed. The economic pressure on artists, writers, and other creators is real and immediate.
- Authenticity is harder to find. When you can’t tell if you’re reading something written by a human or a machine, trust erodes.
These aren’t minor inconveniences. They represent genuine degradation in the quality of our digital experiences.
What the Critics Get Wrong
Here’s where I part ways with some of the AI doomsayers. The problems above are real, but the framing of “AI is ruining everything” misses some important nuances:
AI Isn’t the Problem. Incentives Are.
That search result full of garbage? It exists because Google’s algorithm rewards it, and advertisers pay for it. The chatbot maze? That’s a business decision to prioritize cost savings over customer experience. AI is just the tool that makes these choices cheaper and easier to implement.
Before AI, we had content farms employing humans to write SEO-optimized garbage. We had phone trees designed to frustrate customers into hanging up. The incentives haven’t changed. The tools have just gotten more efficient.
Not All AI Use Is Bad
The same technology that enables spam also enables genuinely useful applications. AI can help you summarize long documents so you don’t waste time reading things that aren’t relevant. It can help you overcome writer’s block when you’re staring at a blank page. It can manage your calendar so you spend less time on logistics.
Painting all AI use with the same brush misses the very real ways it can make your life easier.
The Internet Was Already Getting Worse
Social media was toxic before ChatGPT. Clickbait existed before generative AI. Misinformation spread virally without any algorithmic content generation. AI has accelerated some trends, but it didn’t create the underlying problems with how the internet is monetized and moderated.
The Real Problem With AI Is Ruining Everything Thinking
When you decide that “AI is ruining everything,” you’ve essentially given up. It’s a worldview that positions you as a helpless victim of technological forces beyond your control. And that’s not accurate or useful.
The truth is more complicated and more empowering: AI is a set of tools that can be used well or badly, and you have more agency than you might think in how it affects your life.
Platforms like YouTube are already cracking down on AI-generated “slop” because users demanded better. Google is working (slowly) to improve search quality because their business depends on it. The backlash is real, and it’s having effects.
What You Can Actually Do About AI Ruining Everything
Instead of throwing your hands up, here are some practical steps:
Improve Your Search Game
Add “reddit” to your searches when you want human opinions. Use site-specific searches (site:nytimes.com, for example) to stick to sources you trust. Try alternative search engines like Kagi that prioritize quality over ads. Set up curated RSS feeds to get information from sources you’ve vetted.
Beat the Chatbot Maze
Most chatbots have escape hatches if you know where to look. Say “speak to a human” or “representative” repeatedly. Look for phone numbers on billing statements rather than websites. Use social media to complain publicly, since companies often route those to real people faster.
Use AI Tools Intentionally
Rather than being a passive victim of AI’s worst applications, become an active user of its best ones. Learn which AI tools actually help with daily tasks and use them on your own terms. The difference between AI that wastes your time and AI that saves your time often comes down to who’s controlling it.
Support Human Creators
Pay for journalism. Commission artists directly. Subscribe to newsletters from writers you trust. The market responds to what people actually pay for, and right now the message is that nobody wants to pay for quality. Changing that message, even in small ways, matters.
The Bottom Line on AI Ruining Everything
That Reddit post resonated because it captured a real feeling: the sense that our digital experiences have gotten worse, and that AI is somehow to blame. The frustration is valid. The specific complaints are mostly accurate.
But “AI is ruining everything” isn’t quite right. Humans making bad decisions with AI are ruining specific things. And other humans using AI thoughtfully are making other things better. The technology isn’t the villain. The choices we make about how to use it are.
So yes, complain about the chatbot mazes and the SEO garbage and the creative devaluation. Those complaints are warranted. But don’t stop there. Learn to navigate around the worst applications while taking advantage of the best ones. That’s not accepting defeat. That’s being strategic.
The internet isn’t dead. It’s just going through an awkward phase. And you have more power to shape your experience of it than a viral Reddit rant might suggest.
Common Questions About AI Ruining Everything
Is AI actually making Google Search worse?
Yes and no. AI has made it easier to create low-quality content at scale, which clutters search results. But Google’s algorithms are the real culprit for surfacing that content. The company is actively working to improve this, though progress has been slow. Adding “reddit” to your searches or using site-specific operators can help filter out the noise.
Will AI replace human creative work entirely?
Unlikely. AI can generate passable content quickly and cheaply, but it struggles with genuine creativity, emotional depth, and original thinking. What’s more likely is a split: some markets will race to the bottom with AI-generated content, while others will increasingly value and pay premium prices for demonstrably human work.
What is the Dead Internet Theory?
The Dead Internet Theory suggests that most online activity is now generated by bots and AI rather than humans. While the theory exaggerates the current state, it captures a real concern: as AI-generated content proliferates, authentic human interaction becomes harder to find and verify online.
How can I tell if content is AI-generated?
Look for generic phrasing, lack of specific details or personal anecdotes, perfect grammar with no personality, and content that seems to say a lot without actually saying anything. AI content often hedges constantly and avoids taking strong positions. That said, detection is getting harder as the technology improves.
New to using AI tools in your daily life? Start with our beginner’s guide to everyday AI, where we break down the basics without the hype or the doom.
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