When we asked more than 3,100 subscribers what they would like to see in a primer on artificial intelligence — something to help the uninitiated understand chatbots, their uses, and their dangers — the 240-plus replies painted a vivid picture of curiosity, skepticism, fear and even excitement about how AI is reshaping lives.

Many people said they simply want the basics, a kind of “AI 101” for ordinary users. Others demanded deeper explorations of ethical questions, the environmental costs of sprawling data centers, and the risks of misinformation flooding social media.

And nearly everyone expressed at least some anxiety about what this technology means for the future of jobs, education, health care, and democracy itself. Some framed their concern in terms of the “Skynet scenario. A reference to the Terminator movies in which a self-aware AI system called Skynet tries to annihilate humanity.

We posed our question in a message to more than 3,100 subscribers to our From the Editor weekday texts. You can sign up for free at www.joinsubtext.com/chrisquinn.

Starting with the basics

A large number of readers admitted they don’t know where to start. “Need a primary description for the uneducated like myself to understand basics of AI, then proceed from there please,” one wrote. Another added bluntly: “I don’t know anything about accessing AI, what it looks like, how to find it, very basic stuff.”

Several asked us to cut through the jargon. “I need an introductory course — AI101. My eyes glaze over when the subject is AI.” Others stressed the importance of showing what AI is not. “It’s NOT a search engine, and people in general don’t know how to use TOOLS like ChatGPT,” one reader said.

Another asked, “Can you compare the accuracy and speed of the most widely used chat bots? Also, a quick review of where they get their data and how it is acquired would be helpful.”

Practical examples were in demand. “For the uninitiated local folks, some prompts and responses could be a good start. For example a prompt could be: what is the best tree to plant in Westlake Ohio for maximum shade within 10 years?” Another said, “What can I use AI for in my personal world? Not necessarily for work. How can it help me as I navigate the world as a 40-70 year old who wasn’t born using computer technology?”

Fear of misuse and misinformation

If curiosity dominated part of the feedback, fear dominated another.

“My biggest issue is that people think current AI is actually intelligent. At the end of the day, they are still just more advanced algorithms,” one person wrote. Another warned, “We’ve heard concerns where incorrect or devious information might be churned out by, say, bots, to flood the Internet with this misinformation, thereby AI draws on that to produce wrong results.”

Many readers linked AI directly to politics and propaganda. “Trump and sycophants using it to keep control, as the people of this country can’t be bothered to apply logic to anything they see and accept at face value,” one message said. Another asked whether government would act: “Will there be some kind of government control to filter out the false statements within an AI post? Too many people are gullible to believe anything.”

Others focused on the personal consequences of AI-generated deception. “I would LOVE to see AI covered in a guide as I am quite fearful of it,” one person wrote. Another said, “I would like to use it to create minutes for committee meetings … But I worry about all the fake news that manipulates public opinion on social media and other platforms. AI can create fake videos of people saying things they never said.”

The erosion of trust in information sources was a repeated theme. “My greatest fear is a further proliferation of misinformation. We need a tool to verify factual information,” one reader said. Another put it more simply: “How do we know what is real & what is AI generated garbage?”

Questions about impact

Beyond the basics and the fears, many readers pressed for deeper explorations of AI’s societal effects. Some asked about jobs: “What jobs will people do when AI replaces their jobs. No one talks about that.” Another warned, “Beyond the Skynet scenario, the biggest concern is the more immediate impact of unemployment. Not only would there be less tax revenue generated, but there would be an insufficient safety net for those impacted.”

Health care was another focus. “I worry about health insurance companies using AI to deny treatments and procedures in order to save money,” one reader said. Another asked, “The New York Times broke a story this weekend that AI will be used in determining eligibility for some procedures for Medicare patients … Perhaps you can report more on this.”

Environmental concerns came up repeatedly. “For me it’s the tremendous stress it’s putting on the computing and electrical grid and by extension the planet. All because we can’t put these devices down and think for ourselves.” Others asked directly, “How much is AI raising our electric rates?” and “Is the environmental cost (water & electric consumption) worth it?”

Still others looked at education. “Will students rely too heavily on ChatGPT and be unable to string together a coherent sentence without assistance?” one asked. Another wondered, “If young people become dependent on it, they won’t be able to write anything using their own brain. We already have a generation of kids that can’t even sign their name using cursive.”

And some readers simply pleaded for transparency. “Specifically I want to understand how your newsroom is using AI and what the policy is for reporters,” one message said.

Here are seven thought-provoking responses:

AI isn’t always right but it always sounds right and I can see that causing real world pain.

Garbage in, garbage out. I would be less worried if we didn’t have so many alternative facts.

Seeing is believing! … With today’s state of society where so many facts are either misconstrued or even blatantly manufactured, I am beyond fear of where we are headed with the proliferation of AI generated videos, voice recording and photographs.

The difference between AI and human knowledge … An AI’s ‘experience’ is limited to the data it is fed. It doesn’t build up a personal base of common-sense knowledge the way a human does.

My fear is that too many hallucinations will further disrupt our understanding of the truth. We are already truth-challenged due to the Trump administration.

AI isn’t always bad. I used an AI bot to troubleshoot a digital picture frame … the bot diagnosed remotely and sent me the replacement cord free of charge and all is well with my photo memories.

It’s probably the most important invention since the telephone.

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