Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Politics and Religion
Revulsion against AI

Revulsion against AI

Last updated on: July 10, 2025 at 6:00 am by Gene Veith

0 Comments

Revulsion against AI 2025-07-05T13:15:21-04:00 Gene Veith

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

As companies, apps, agencies, and even schools are proudly announcing that they are going AI, the general public is feeling revulsion against Artificial Intelligence.

It isn’t just being creeped out by machine-generated personalities or sympathy for the workers being replaced, though that’s part of it. AI seems to be a violation.

Let me give an example from my own recent experience. An ad that popped up as I was checking my email. It was advertising an AI service that would rewrite your AI-generated writing so that it wouldn’t be detected as having been written by AI.

Out of curiosity, I clicked the link. Here is a screen shot of what I saw:

The teaser I had to click said that it was a way to get around AI “chekers”–that is to say, AI programs designed to detect AI writing–suggesting that one way it humanizes AI text is to insert misspellings.

OK, I’m a retired English professor and writing teacher. I’m thankful to be out of my profession due to the tsunami of AI-enabled cheating that makes teaching meaningless.

Academic integrity has been one of my core vocational values, and I have always abominated plagiarism in all its forms. Now AI has blown through all of that. And some educators have accepted this.

What bothers me in particular about this ad is that it is so brazen. It is promoting not only cheating but offering a way to avoid getting caught in public. The product is openly advertised on a reputable website. There is no no furtiveness, no shame.

And then there is this: Trusted by students at Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and the University of Chicago? This makes me not trust students at Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and the University of Chicago!

The ad uses the logos of those top universities. Usually, you can’t do that without getting permission. Did the schools give permission for this use by a plagiarism-enabling company? Maybe it was a routine approval, not knowing what “Humanize”–which is certainly sounds like an ethical company–is all about. Then again, we can hardly trust the plagiarism-enabling company to follow copyright and trademark laws. (The other possibility is that these are not really the universities’ logos but are themselves AI-generated. A quick check suggests, though, that these are legit.)

The point, is, the ad talks of “trust,” which is ironic because the product is designed specifically to deceive, to make a reader trust what should not be trusted. But can the very concept of trust survive in an AI universe?

My reaction to this ad ties into a broader phenomenon described in Wired Magazine, no less, in an article by Reece Rogers entitled The AI Backlash Keeps Growing Stronger. The teaser reads, “As generative artificial intelligence tools continue to proliferate, pushback against the technology and its negative impacts grows stronger.”

The article begins with describing what happened when a foreign-language learning app announced, proudly, that it was becoming an “AI-first company,” replacing human contractors with the latest AI technology. This prompted a backlash from users, who made it a social media phenomenon to post pictures of themselves deleting the app. Rogers goes on:

Many people were initially in awe of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools when they first arrived in late 2022. You could make a cartoon of a duck riding a motorcycle! But soon artists started speaking out, noting that their visual and textual works were being scraped to train these systems. The pushback from the creative community ramped up during the 2023 Hollywood writer’s strike, and continued to accelerate through the current wave of copyright lawsuits brought by publishers, creatives, and Hollywood studios.
. . .

This generalized animosity towards AI has not abated over time. Rather, it’s metastasized. LinkedIn users have complained about being constantly prompted with AI-generated questions. Spotify listeners have been frustrated to hear AI-generated podcasts recapping their top-listened songs. Reddit posters have been upset to see AI-generated images on their microwavable noodles at the grocery store.

Tensions are so high that even the suspicion of AI usage is now enough to draw criticism.

Diane Hamilton has written another article on the subject for Forbes entitled The Rise Of AI Resentment At Work: Why Employees Are Pushing Back. She writes,

AI has been positioned as a tool to make work easier, but many employees aren’t experiencing the benefits firsthand. A 2023 Pew Research study found that while nearly two-thirds of Americans expect AI to have a major impact on the workforce, only 13% believe it will personally help them. Instead, they fear job loss, increased surveillance, and a lack of control over their own work.

Some of this resentment stems from the fact that automation often prioritizes efficiency over employee well-being. When AI is implemented in a way that replaces rather than enhances human work, it can lead to job insecurity, increased pressure to adapt, and a sense of being devalued.

The resentment isn’t just coming from frontline workers—managers are feeling it too. AI-driven performance tracking, automated hiring tools, and decision-making algorithms can leave leaders feeling like they have less control over their own teams. Instead of empowering managers, AI can sometimes sideline their expertise, making them feel like their judgment is being replaced by machine-driven metrics.

She concludes, “AI resentment is about identity and purpose.” That is to say, AI undermines people’s sense of vocation!

Illustration: Artificial Intelligence Writing Code via FreeVectors.net, CC BY 4.0

AI-enabled plagiarism

artificial intelligence

Previous Post

July 9, 2025

How C. S. Lewis Helped Make Me a Lutheran

Next Post

July 11, 2025 DISCUSS: What Do You Miss?

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"I know wired earbuds are making a comeback (I never stopped using them as I ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

"VCRs, tape decks, and cassette players are all having a revival among a segment of ..."

Tom Hering

Luther on Tools

"As a (retired) lawyer I see potential liability from sharing things like power or sharp ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

"I am not sure the items you mentioned, though disused, discontinued, discarded, could be considered ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category America Apologetics Art baseball Bible Blog Christ Church crime Culture Economics Education Ethics Family Food Football Government History Holidays Holy Week Humor International Islam Language Law Life Issues Literature Media Medicine Movies Music Nature News Personal Philosophy Politics psychology Reformation Religions Sacraments Science sex Social Science Sports technology television terrorism Theology Uncategorized Vocation war

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to Romans, what is the gift of God?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Eternal life in Christ Jesus Salvation The Holy Spirit Grace

Books by This Author Books by Gene Veith

See All Titles »