A short street-interview transcript from a YouTube video where passersby discuss fears about AI—one interviewee expresses certainty that AI will 'kill us' and says heavy phone use has made him 'stupid', causing nightmares and anxiety about his children; the interviewer reflects on public experiential concerns about diminished agency from AI/tool use.
Hey, yo, guys, quick question. Doing 22nd street interviews, do you think AI is going to kill us all or take our jobs? I. AI Artificial intelligence.
Oh, he kill us.
They'll kill us.
Yes.
Can you tell me more? 100 so you're very confident.
Yes. Because we spend a lot of time in the phone every day. Every time. You notice I can work if you don't watch my phone. So that's made me stupid.
It's made you stupid? Yes. Okay. Do you have kids?
Oh, a bunch.
A bunch. And are you worried about your kids?
Yes.
Oh, you're worried.
That's right.
Oh, man. Okay, so what. How do you stay positive, though? What do you do in your control? Like, how do you sleep at night?
I've had nightmares.
Say it again.
So how I sleep?
Yeah. With all these problems, AI is going to kill us all. 100 confident.
Oh, man. I can sleep canceling.
That's just part of it. Is this what I have to look forward to when I get older?
Yes.
Ah, man. Oh, okay. Quick question. I'm meeting with Sam Altman next week. He's doing AI stuff. What would you say to him?
Please stop.
Please stop.
Yes.
Please stop. Okay. Hey, thank you so much. Much appreciated. Have a great day. That was a really good one. Wow. Like, I mean, he was 100% confident that AI is going to kill us all, and he actually just straight up said it's making me stupider. That's wild. That's not good. So that's just confirmed. Like, people experientially feel like they're getting stupider as they use these tools more. So I think it's really important to try to maintain maximal agency. Let me ask these folks. Hey, quick question. Do you think AI is going to kill us all or take our jobs? Maybe. All right, maybe. Maybe. Let's ask this person. Excuse me. Do you think AI is going to kill us all or take our jobs? Not sure. Okay. Have a good day. All right, let's go here.
