{"id":583604,"date":"2026-04-14T12:31:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T12:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/583604\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T12:31:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T12:31:24","slug":"it-tastes-like-a-twinkie-major-tech-podcaster-kara-swisher-says-ai-is-overhyped-for-one-simple-reason-humans-dont-like-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/583604\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It tastes like a Twinkie\u2019: Major tech podcaster Kara Swisher says AI is overhyped for one simple reason\u2014humans don\u2019t like it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Artificial intelligence has quickly become the defining technology of the moment\u2014promising breakthroughs from curing diseases<\/a> to making space travel more routine<\/a>, while also raising fears of widespread job disruption. But Kara Swisher isn\u2019t convinced the technology will live up to the hype.<\/p>\n

On a recent episode of her podcast, On With Kara Swisher<\/a>, the veteran tech journalist argued that AI may be hitting a ceiling\u2014not just because of technical limitations, but because of human resistance.<\/p>\n

\u201cHuman beings don\u2019t like it,\u201d she bluntly explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, [AI] feels like a Twinkie. It tastes like a Twinkie. And I don\u2019t know if they can ever make it taste like an apple, if that makes sense. I don\u2019t know if they can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gen Zers are souring on AI as they see through the \u2018fake\u2019 and \u2018performative,\u2019 according to Kara Swisher<\/p>\n

The path forward for AI companies is already getting steeper as sentiment, particularly among young people, begins to sour. A new survey<\/a> from the Walton Family Foundation found that just 18% of Gen Zers feel hopeful about using AI, down from 27% the year prior. Nearly one-third of respondents said the technology makes them feel angry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people are moving faster towards the genuine versus the fake and the performative. I know that with my kids, I can see it. I can see it in the culture,\u201d Swisher added. \u201cPeople are craving community and people and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

That skepticism isn\u2019t just abstract. It\u2019s increasingly colliding with the realities of the workplace, where AI is being deployed not only as a productivity tool, but also as a justification for restructuring\u2014and in some cases, reducing headcount<\/a>. For many younger workers, that shift has turned AI from a distant technological promise into something far more immediate: a threat to the careers they are eager to get off the ground.<\/p>\n

In response, some young people have already begun pivoting toward more \u201cAI-proof\u201d career paths, including skilled trades jobs<\/a>, that are less susceptible to automation. And the shift goes beyond careers: Young people are also pulling back on screen-heavy habits<\/a>, trading doomscrolling and video games for board games, manual cars, and vinyl records as they seek out more tangible, offline experiences<\/a> in an increasingly digital world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As tech companies prepare to cut headcounts in the name of AI, Gen Z is taking note<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, payments firm Block<\/a> became a poster child for major layoffs in the name of AI<\/a>\u2014cutting its workforce nearly in half from over 10,000 to just under 6,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re already seeing that the intelligence tools we\u2019re creating and using, paired with smaller and flatter teams, are enabling a new way of working which fundamentally changes what it means to build and run a company,\u201d Block CEO Jack Dorsey wrote on X<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At Amazon<\/a>, CEO Andy Jassy<\/a> similarly said last year that generative AI will likely reduce the need for certain roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,\u201d he wrote<\/a> in a June 2025 letter to Amazon employees. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to know exactly where this nets out over time, but in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company then went on to cut 14,000 employees in the fall, but Jassy cited the layoffs as a mismatched cultural fit<\/a>, not \u201creally AI-driven, not right now at least.\u201d<\/p>\n

The distinction may be beside the point for the workers affected. AI may not be the sole driver of layoffs, but paired with rising unemployment among young workers<\/a>, the perception alone is reshaping how Gen Z thinks about the future. Nearly half (48%) say AI\u2019s risks outweigh its benefits in the workplace\u2014up from 37% just a year ago, according to the Walton Family Foundation survey.<\/p>\n

The long-term irony could be stark. A workforce hollowed out by automation is also a consumer base hollowed out of their jobs\u2014and resentful toward the technology. The companies racing to replace workers with AI may eventually find themselves with fewer people willing, or able, to buy what they\u2019re selling.<\/p>\n