Appreciation post for the barista who called me out on my AI chatbot habit

I was ordering coffee last Tuesday at a shop in Denver and mentioned I'd used an AI to write a birthday card for a friend. The barista handed me my latte and said, 'You know that makes the recipient feel like an afterthought, right?' It stuck with me because I hadn't considered the human side at all. Has anyone else had someone call them out on leaning too hard on AI tools?

2 comments

2 Comments

davis.diana1d ago

Heard something similar from my friend Sarah last month. She sent her sister a heartfelt apology text that she'd totally written with ChatGPT. Her sister called her up and said it felt like getting a form letter from a company she owes money to. Sarah felt awful but it made her realize how much we're outsourcing our actual human connections. Now she just writes her own messy texts and her sister appreciates them way more.

kelly.parker19h ago

Hit the nail on the head. My cousin tried the same thing with a breakup message. Used AI to sound 'smooth and mature.' His ex texted back saying 'did a robot just dump me?' Felt like a total joke. He had to call her and apologize for being such a coward. It's like we forgot that real connection is messy. Your friend's sister is right. A form letter from a company is exactly what it feels like. Every time I get some perfect looking text I can tell it's not real. Just feels cold. I'd rather read a text with typos and bad grammar that sounds like a person. At least that shows someone cared enough to type it out themselves.