AI is That Toxic Boyfriend You Won’t Leave Because of His “Potential”

I’ve been trying to write this post about Artificial Intelligence and its ever-growing presence in our everyday lives. I struggled to find the right angle on this frustrating topic, balancing the environmental, artistic, political, and social harm with the potential of the tool. I’ve watched an influx of authors and creators alike admit to using AI somewhere in their writing process and marketing and then reading about how AI allegations have specifically and intentionally harmed Black authors in traditional publishing. I’ve noticed the impact of large language models in the publishing industry and their reasoning behind reprints such as Survivor, something the late Octvatia E. Butler did not want. I’ve seen Afrofuturists claim that AI is the future and we should aspire to create best practices. So what is AI to this Afrofuturist, or more specifically, this afrofuturist feminist at The Blerd Library?

What is Afrofuturist Feminism?

Let’s define some words. In writing my academic paper for graduate school applications, I found the term Afrofuturist Feminist after telling myself there has to be a connection to Afrofuturism and the Black woman’s imagination and voice. The earliest papers I found on the subject were written by Dr. Susana M. Morris, the same author of Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia Butler, published by Amistad in 2025. Afrofuturist feminism is the use of both Afrofuturistic and Black Feminism frameworks.  In her paper “Black Girls Are From the Future: Afrofuturist Feminism in Fledgling“, Morris examines the current problems faced by Blacks and people of color more generally and critique interpretations of the past and future.”(Morris 153)  Using Sankofa, we learn from the past to examine the present and explore possible futures and future technologies through a Black disaporic lens. Afrofuturists are Black ass time travelers.¹ Black Feminism is a framework that focuses on the many intersections such as race, class, gender, sexuality, abilitiy, etc. to examine and uplift the condition of the Black woman. Systemically, Black women sit at the bottom of the social heiarchy and Black feminist thought argues that the liberation of the Black woman is the liberation of all peoples. Combining these two frameworks, Afrofuturist feminism trangresses capitalist, white- supremacist, patriarchal societal norms to model inclusive futures.

AI and the Black Present

As a Black time traveler, I’ve scanning the timeline to find a positive outlook with AI in its current state. And looking at global politics, current systems, algorithmic biases, and current AI usage, the future of AI’s compatibility with humanity is bleak. I understand the potential of artificial intelligence.² What can be done with medicine, space travel, etc. but I fear too many people are ignoring its current impacts and possible historical implications.

So it begs the question: how does AI currently transgress capitalist, white-supremacist, and patriarchal societal norms to create more inclusive futures? Long story short, in it’s current state, it doesn’t. It aligns perfectly with capitalistic, white-supremacist, and patriarchal norms because that is who controls it. There are interviews by tech oligarchs stating the possibility of AI destroying life as we know it in a decade. Studies shave proven the long term harm of young students using AI, citing low cognitive abilities. And I know I’m not the only one dealing with ridiculous electrical bills because it has been proven that we, the working class are subsidizing the costs to run these data centers. AI is shrinking job opportunities in entry level positions creating a youth unemployment crisis.

Currently, data centers are being built in the cheapest ways, using our finite water resoruces to cool down servers. Yes, there are other ways to achieve this but corporations have chosen the easiest path versus the most sustainable. Then they place said data centers in Black and low-income neighborhoods, deepining the impacts of enironmental racism. And yet, here we are using AI to offload critical thinking skills and create flyers, book covers, Youtube thumbnails, child pronography, and pics of our most well known historical figures in an anachronistic manner.

Falling in Love with Potential and The Role of the Artist

Now I understand the perceived potential of AI. Our capitalist-enforced need to be productive makes the shortcuts of AI seem appealing. I’ve seen many in the Black community claim AI can level the playing field. Why not use it? I truly do understand this mindset. This need to stack the deck when the house has been winning every game for the last 400 years. We as a community should be able to have equitable partnerships in this country’s abundance. But how are we not questioning this tool, presented as a deux ex machina, made to solve all of our problems? Low productivity? AI. Hard to research things? AI can do it. No money to pay artists, editors, and designers? Have no fear, for AI can help! You believe that you can’t draw, or sing, write, or make art? My sweet summer child, AI is here for you.  Most of the things AI is promoted to fix are SYMPTOMS OF OUR CURRENT SYSTEMS! The root of the problem lies in the systems in place. Captialism teaches/forces us to grind until exhaustion because, supposedly, sucess lies at the end of that road. It teaches us that we need to be perfect right out of the gate in order to thrive. It tells us that efficency is prioritized over the time, energy, community, and resources it would take to make it ourselves. AI has only stamped that lesson and we should be questioning its true intention versus folding into our everyday life.

Because AI specifically and directly impacts art, and because I focus on art³, I find it to be an enemy of sorts. Art is the distilled essence of our humanity, a space where we create and remake our interpretation of the world. It’s directly tied to our personhood. It’s a space that values our differences. Currently there are writers and artists in class-action lawsuits because their works have been scanned into large language models to help make someone else’s prompted products. AI currently disenfranchises artists. Why should it be heralded when artists are being harmed?

To further explain, artificial intelligence as we know it, steals from human creators. It does not actually ‘create’. AI flattens the human experience by relying on tropes and trending topics which are usually impacted by algorithmic bias. We have ALL seen AI art, thumbnails, stories, and it all looks the same. Same font, same style, same story beats, the same sameness. Who aspires to that level of mediocrity and flatness? This, especially in speculative fiction, degrades the point of the art entirely.

I have no doubt that AI would be helpful in a different world.⁴ Dreaming is important work in the revolution but AI usage feels more like delusion and consumer/ capitalist entitlement.

Being Unseriously Serious

Can we also acknowledge the amount of stories circulating that depict AI technology recognizing that HUMANS are the problem and the inevitability of AI killing us all? Please let me put my tin foil hat on for a minute as we traverse the sci-fi landscape and review these stories: Terminator, Matrix, Robogenesis by Daniel H. Wilson, Hammer: John Henry vs The Robot Apocolypse by Greg Anderson Elysee and David Brame, I am AI by Ai Jang, Age of Ultron (Marvel), Mosely by Robert Guillory, Machinehood by S. B. Divya, , etc. All stories of AI taking over and/or destroying humanity as we know it. How are we as a society not picking up what these artists are putting down?!? Humanity, especially the ethnocentric, capitalist, patriarchal, overly white definition as explored by Sylvia Wynter has proven itself to be harmful. We know this as folks who navigate its oppressive systems daily. We know this and still cant fathom sentient technology recognizing this also? The disconnect is impressively mind-blowing.

With AI, it’s possible to cure cancers, heal our planet, and maintain archives of our histories at a far greater capacity than what humans can do currently. Hell, there is a fascinating move that is currently using AI to undercut Large corporations like Adobe who have moved to subscription based plans rather than consumer ownership⁵. But much like a toxic partner, we keep AI around because we see its *potential*, not acknowledging the devastation of its current state. The future I imagine allows us all to live in abundance. Where sustainable technologies work with our planet and its inhabitants, not against. We need to fix society and severely limit our use of AI in the process.

So no, I don’t accept any book review requests, highlights, features, etc. with works that use AI in any way. I’m tired of having to ask that question and I’m tired of getting the long winded “yes, but” responses. Find somebody else to do it.

NOTES:

1. I’ve been thinking how interesting it is that so many people I know who are Afrofuturists, have ADHD. The framework is a natural fit for nuerodivergent folks, where time doesnt move linearly.

2 . I used Grammarly for almost a decade. It helped me with line editing, which was needed because I  I was forever grateful for that…until I learned about Large Language models and how gen AI is used in Grammarly to “give advice.” I was devastated and stopped using it over a year ago. It has been a long, uphill battle but I am more confident in my writing than I have ever been, even in my mistakes. The struggle is necessary.

3. I still find it weird to call myself an artist/writer even though I am published and I do, in fact, create art. I too am a victim of capitalism and perfection and yet, I persist. My most recent published essay is Midnight & Indigo, here.

4. I have so many dreams for The Blerd Library and AI could make my dreams come true at an exponentially faster rate, but who would I be hurting in the process? What neighborhood loses water because of my personal gain? Which artist or creator loses their livelihood? What wisdom or skill do I lose in the process?

5. I am deeply fascinated with this movement. It seems valid on tis surface but it, again, reminds me of other moevements and “progress” via the exploitation of Black communities.

6. Will I be open to its use in the futre? Maybe, I’m trying really hard not to speak in absolutes. But for now, I dont trust the powers in place. We don’t have to keep pushing forward at someone else’s expense. Sometimes standing still and reassessing is necessary.

7. Watch this!! Recent Video on AI’s Exploitation– PBS Documentaries

References

McMahon, L. (2026, September 14). Why are there concerns AI could threaten humanity? BBC News. Bbc.Com. link here

Mizkif. (2026, October 12). No more paying for adobe?! 😳 Someone used AI to rebuild photoshop, premiere, lightroom and 4 more adobe apps as [Video]. TikTok. link here

Morris, S. M. (2013). Black girls are from the future: Afrofuturist feminism in Octavia E. Butler’s Fledgling. WSQ: Women’s Studies Quarterly, 40(3–4), 146–166. link here or message me for copy

Turpin, C. A. (2021). STRATEGIC DISRUPTIONS: BLACK FEMINISM, INTERSECTIONALITY, AND AFROFUTURISM. Journal of the College English Association MidAtlantic Group, 29(1067–7429), 21–34.

Vladimir Hedrih. (2024, September 17). Study finds ChatGPT eases students’ cognitive load, but at the expense of critical thinking. PsyPost. PsyPost – Psychology News. link here