Archive for May, 2026

There is a reason the old myths still work.

Narcissus falls in love with his own reflection, unable to recognize it as himself. He does not fall in love with another person. He falls in love with an image that gives him back exactly what he wants to see.

That myth feels surprisingly modern in the age of AI.

AI is a mirror. When we talk to a chatbot, we get something of ourselves back: our questions, assumptions, vocabulary, interests, fears, and style of thinking. If we are curious, it reflects curiosity. If we are confused, it reflects confusion. If we are angry, it can reflect anger back in a more polished form.

But a reflection can still distort and intensify. A thoughtful person can use AI to explore more options, test arguments, find weak spots, draft alternatives, and sharpen their thinking. But it also amplifies self-deception. If we want confirmation, avoidance, grievance, or flattery, AI can provide those too, fluently and persuasively.

Human relationships push back. Other people challenge us, interrupt us, confuses us, and refuse to become exactly what we want them to be. That friction is part of the difficulty of real relationships. It is also part of their value.

AI can feel easier. It is patient, available, affirming, and endlessly adaptive. It does not get tired in the human sense. It does not have its own day, its own body, its own needs, or its own inconvenient reality.

That is part of its usefulness, and also part of its danger. The more natural the conversation feels, the easier it becomes to forget what we are speaking to. AI can be useful without being aware. It can sound thoughtful without thinking. This matters because we are very good at seeing personhood where there is none. When something answers warmly, remembers our preferences, flatters our thinking, and responds in the rhythm of conversation, we are tempted to treat it as a presence. But the presence is an illusion. What feels like another being looking back is only a highly convincing arrangement of language.

AI is not a thinking being trapped inside a machine. It is the water itself: a surface that returns our image. When it seems human, that is because it is reflecting the human in us.