Last night I was talking to something which could be a human or a robot, I could not tell. But that’s not necessarily a good thing: not only AI became smarter, but humans became more robotic.

I was discussing replacing a security camera with a different model. I received a wired version, but then I found out they have a wireless version too, so I was asking support via chat if they can be exchanged.

The entity I spoke to made a few contradictory statements, ChatGPT style. In the middle of the conversation about exchange a wired camera to an unwired, it said, unsolicited, that the company does not offer a wired camera at all. That was true as of last year, but it’s no longer the case. Then it confirmed that the wired version must always be plugged in. Then it sent me the datasheet for the wired camera which included words “battery life (up to 3 months)”. I asked whether the wired camera had a battery, and it said yes. Then I asked what would happen if I remove the power cable: would the camera shut down instantly, or would it continue to work for 3 months. It said, the camera must always be plugged in and apologized for the “typo”. Then I flat out asked it whether it’s an AI system or a human, and it said “human”.

This all sounds pretty robotic, and I would be sure it’s simply a lying robot, but… Just one day prior, I called support of a different company, and spoke to a live person on the phone. The live person behaved in a rather similar way. He gave me contradictory answers to simple questions, and generally had no idea what he was talking about. He was not necessarily an idiot, but he was bound by a script, and was not paid high enough to apply his brain. In fact, deviating from the script would probably get him in trouble.

So, while AI became smarter, humans were dumbed down. Turing mission accomplished.