Once upon a time, the internet used to promise that it would expand our knowledge; now, it seems to be making us dumber than ever.

It may be true that many people have been stupid online since the technology was in its infancy, but it has to be said that this decade seems to be taking the prevalence of this up a notch or several. The biggest reason for this is the rise of artificial intelligence, and the way in which millions have come to be dependent on it as it has become more and more popular.

In some ways, the rise of AI could be framed as a good thing; there are plenty of boring, repetitive tasks that human beings don’t want to do, and with the right direction, machine learning is perfect for. On the other hand, it seems to have made a lot of its users completely dependent on whatever information, opinion, or moral support it can churn out, even when those things do not prove to be of the best quality. Not wanting to think for ourselves is hardly a new phenomenon, but at its worst, it can feel like the powers that be are using AI to facilitate that on a scale previously unimaginable.