Nesrine Malik argues that while artificial intelligence offers convenience and speed, it fundamentally lacks meaning and the human touch essential for authentic expression.

She recounts incidents where AI-generated content produced misattributed or fabricated quotes, highlighting the technology’s unreliability as a research tool.

Beyond factual errors, Malik emphasises the subtle, pervasive effect of AI language: its bland, uniform tone infiltrates writing, customer service, social media, and even political communication, eroding individuality and critical thought.She stresses that writing is not merely about style but about the unique perspective, experiences, and thought processes of a person.

Overreliance on AI risks atrophying these creative and cognitive faculties, reducing our ability to struggle for words, craft nuanced ideas, or connect meaningfully with others.

This phenomenon aligns uncomfortably with the current political moment, where repetitive, ideologically cautious rhetoric dominates and extremist misinformation proliferates.

Malik contends that resisting AI is not merely a personal preference but a social responsibility, preserving trust, originality, and the integrity of shared knowledge.

She invokes George Bernard Shaw’s warning that deception undermines the ability to trust others, suggesting that AI overuse threatens both individual consciousness and collective credibility.