We asked Perplexity for “The Current State of AI” Here’s what it said: America Outsourcing Its Laziness to Robots

AI Describing itself as a stoned college kid

AI right now is basically a stoned college kid. It’s wicked smart in the weirdest areas, dumb as dirt everywhere else. Like, it can pass the bar exam, but if you ask it to draw a picture of a hand, suddenly you get a Picasso painting of spaghetti fingers. 

They keep saying AI is changing the world. Which is true — but mostly it’s just changing how lazy we are. Back in the day you had to BS your own way through a job interview. Now you can literally ask a robot to write a polite response about “synergies” and “growth strategy,” send it to a recruiter, and go back to playing Call of Duty. AI didn’t just replace human effort — it replaced human pretending.

And yeah, AI has passed law exams, solved medical problems, and designed entire buildings… but it still can’t get something as simple as drawing hands right. You’ll see a perfectly realistic digital human, but their fingers look like a pack of Slim Jims boiling in a microwave. That’s not artificial intelligence — that’s finger soup.

Meanwhile, every tech company is sprinting like lunatics to shove “AI” into everything. Phones, cars, TVs, microwaves. I swear I bought an air fryer last month with “AI‑enhanced cooking capabilities.” Absolutely not, brother. I don’t need a robot thinking about my chicken tenders. My tendies don’t need intelligence, artificial or otherwise.

The funniest part? Nobody actually trusts AI. We keep asking it stuff, but nobody believes it. A lawyer literally submitted court papers written by AI that straight up cited fake cases. The judge was like, “What’s this, Law & Order: AIU?” AI makes things up all the time, but with confidence — kind of like your buddy at the bar who knows a “guy in the Navy SEALs.”

Of course, there’s the classic fear: robots are coming to take our jobs. Maybe so. But if McDonald’s can’t get half its employees to remember no onions, you think a chatbot is running the drive‑thru smoothly anytime soon? Nah. Best case scenario: the robot takes your order, shuts down halfway through, and you still get handed a Filet‑O‑Fish whether you ordered it or not.

And don’t get me started on deepfakes. At this point, the next presidential debate will probably just be two AIs arguing on Twitch. Half the country won’t even notice. People are going to start watching AI‑made conspiracy theories starring fake Joe Rogan, and then try to pay rent with pictures of a fake moon landing they generated on their iPhone.

Here’s the truth: we aren’t headed for a robot apocalypse. We’re headed for something dumber. A future where your dishwasher has “opinions,” your thermostat gaslights you about climate control, and your boss replaces you with a chatbot that still can’t send a calendar invite correctly.

At the end of the day, AI isn’t going to destroy humanity. Humanity is going to destroy itself — by asking Siri to balance our checking accounts and trusting Alexa with our love life. The most realistic future isn’t Skynet — it’s your fridge DM’ing you, “Bro, maybe drink some water.”

And honestly, that’s progress.