AI: The Frankenstein of Our Time
At this point, AI is being rapidly integrated into our lives. If it’s not already a key part of the products and services we use daily, it soon will be. So what does this future look like? Will it be a utopia of seamless, intelligent experiences, or are we setting ourselves up for something far messier?
Each new innovation, each leap forward, brings us closer to a world where the lines between human and machine blur. The reality is that AI is not inherently good or bad. It’s a tool, and like any tool, it can be used for both beneficial and harmful purposes. The key lies in how we design, develop, and deploy AI systems.
At the moment, AI needs human oversight. A lot of it. From ensuring it behaves ethically to making sure it doesn’t reinforce dangerous biases, humans have to act as the guardians. But will that always be the case? Will we ever reach a point where we can “set it and forget it,” trusting that AI has our best interests at heart?
AI vs Human Judgement
The Human Touch in Healthcare
As someone who works with health and wellness brands, this feels especially important. In health, we’re not just dealing with convenience or entertainment — we’re talking about people’s well-being, both physical and mental.
Can we really allow AI systems to make life-altering decisions without any human intervention? Absolutely not. In this space, human oversight must be mandated. Machines can support, guide, and enhance — but humans should always have the final say.
Ethical Responsibility in Product Design
That brings me to something that’s been on my mind: our ethical responsibility in product design. I was reminded of Bruno Latour’s essay “Love Your Monsters,” which talks about caring for technology like we do our children. He points to Frankenstein as a cautionary tale — not because the act of creation was inherently wrong, but because the creature was abandoned and neglected.
We must hold ourselves accountable not just for creating AI but for what happens after we set it loose into the world. We can’t afford to create and forget. If AI harms people, it’s on us, the creators, for not nurturing it, guiding it, or controlling it responsibly.
Your AI-Product is A Chair
And here’s the thing: We’ve all used products that technically “work” but leave us feeling frustrated or stressed. That’s a low bar. AI shouldn’t just function; it should improve lives.
I’m borrowing Jaclyn Phillips’ analogy of how all the pieces of a chair must fit together for an experience to work. Daily frustrations with poor design add up — much like sitting in an uncomfortable chair day after day. Sure, you might be able to sit in it, but over time, it starts to cause real harm. That’s exactly what we’re doing when we release AI systems that work just enough to pass but fail to consider the bigger picture of human impact.
If AI algorithms make inaccurate or biased recommendations, it can lead to frustration and a diminished user experience. Moreover, the constant evolution of AI systems can make it difficult to maintain a consistent and predictable user interface.
As a result, designers of AI-powered products must carefully consider how to balance personalization with predictability, ensuring that AI enhances usability without compromising the overall user experience.
AI Has Our Biases
Here’s where it gets tricky. AI needs to be monitored and regulated — there’s no doubt about that. A humane regulatory body that ensures AI doesn’t run amok sounds like a great idea, right?
But here’s the uncomfortable truth: humans come with their own biases, too. And what happens when we have conflicting ideas of what’s ethical or fair? What’s acceptable today might be seen as offensive or harmful tomorrow.
And let’s not forget the influence of media, which already uses AI-driven recommendation engines to shape what we see, think, and engage with. This influence can be subtle, but it’s powerful. With elections around the corner, we can’t ignore how people like Mark Zuckerberg were called into question for how social media platforms influenced voting behavior in the past.
AI for President?
It all comes down to power and influence. Those who have power will fight tooth and nail to protect it. And when AI is thrown into the mix, do we really believe that we can create a system that’s free from bias? Here’s the truth: AI is an extension of human biases. It’s trained on data that we, as humans, have created, and that data is inherently flawed. So, no matter how “advanced” AI gets, it’ll always reflect those biases to some degree.
Even if we somehow managed to create an unbiased AI system, we’d still face a critical question: Who is responsible when something goes wrong?
Is it the engineers? The companies that deploy these systems? The users? AI is increasingly shaping everything — our governance, economy, freedom, rights, and the broader human experience. If we’re going to keep pushing the limits of what AI can do, we also need to figure out who’s accountable when things go sideways.
Some people look at AI like it’s some kind of god-like figure, ready to take over and save us all. But is that really what we want? Do we want AI to have that much power over our lives? And, more importantly, what does that do to the human experience? If we delegate everything to machines, from decision-making to creative problem-solving, what’s left for us?
AI can be a powerful tool, but that’s all it should ever be — a tool. We must be mindful not to give it more power than it deserves. The moment we do, we risk losing something fundamental about what it means to be human. So, let’s keep the oversight in place. Let’s monitor AI like the unpredictable child it is. Because the last thing we want is to create our own Frankenstein and then abandon it, only to face the consequences later.
Personal note: This all started with a thought-provoking comment from Jaclyn Phillips. As a designer, I constantly find myself thinking about AI-driven products and designing ethical human-AI interactions. I’ve been having an existential crisis for a few days. So, I wrote this to process my thoughts.
Would love to know YOUR thoughts on this. Let me know in the comments!
