{"id":152,"date":"2026-10-12T09:19:37","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T14:19:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/?p=152"},"modified":"2026-10-12T09:20:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T14:20:29","slug":"brain-drain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/12\/brain-drain\/","title":{"rendered":"Brain Drain"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When I read books or watch movies, I don\u2019t typically get upset.<\/p>\n

However, in 2008, Pixar released an animated sci-fi movie titled Wall-E<\/em>. As I watched the movie, I became angrier and angrier.<\/p>\n

Wall-E was the last working trash-compacting robot left on the planet after Earth became so polluted that it could not sustain life. It would scoop up garbage and compact it into a small cube and then stack it. There were many stacks all over.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, humans retreated into the cosmos in these luxury space cruise liners. There is no indication of whether this space liner was the only one or what happened to the people left on Earth. You only know is that when it passed by Earth, they dumped their garbage on it.<\/p>\n

I started getting angry when I saw the passengers. Over 700 years, each generation gained more and more weight. They were so large and heavy that they needed antigravity chairs to float around on. Robots catered to their every pleasure. To me, they seemed to be giant, overweight five-year-olds.<\/p>\n

The robots only followed the instructions they were given, and that was to pamper the passengers and keep them safe on the ship.<\/p>\n

Spoiler alert: The movie ends with the passengers returning to Earth. These uneducated, overweight, pampered, ignorant adults waddling over to ooh and ahh at the plants that started growing again.<\/p>\n

I am sure the filmmakers wanted to leave us with a hopeful message of humanity having a second chance on Earth.<\/p>\n

What I saw was pampered, unfit, overfed people with no knowledge of how to survive in a harsh environment. Earth was still polluted. They had no fresh water, other natural food, no indication of a viable ecosystem, and no knowledge of how to grow crops and manage these other issues.<\/p>\n

And in my anger, I concluded that Pixar had a dim view of humans. I believed that we would never become like those passengers, turning our rights and even decision-making responsibilities over to a non-living, automated intelligence.<\/p>\n

It is now 2026; AI and the internet have touched almost every part of our lives in ways I never imagined eighteen years ago.<\/p>\n

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  • How many phone numbers do you have memorized? When I was a kid, I knew dozens of phone numbers. Today, maybe five.<\/li>\n
  • Can you read a map and get to your destination without using your phone's GPS? Recently, I had an event. I knew all but the last few turns. I turned on the GPS and followed its instructions for the entire drive to the event.<\/li>\n
  • While I am not using ChatGPT to write this article, I have used it to research it. I do that because it can access all the public areas of the internet and websites in a fraction of the time.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Before the internet, I\u2019d be at the library or opening an encyclopedia. When search engines were created, I\u2019d do repeated searches to gather my information. It would take me hours to find some of the information I was looking for. I would have likely missed some important pieces of information. ChatGPT has been a real time saver.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    My opinion has changed; I do not think Pixar was that far off the mark.<\/p>\n

    I am becoming like the passenger on the space liner. I am turning processes and information gathering over to AI. Why? Ease, convenience, and accuracy are the big three.<\/p>\n

    I am concerned about Today\u2019s AI. I look at AI as a tool to help me with a job, just like I need a shovel to dig a hole. And I do not have a problem with today\u2019s AI.<\/p>\n

    I do wonder about tomorrow's AI. Where AI is even more intelligent and independent in its thinking, and it will make everything so easy and convenient. At this time, I think more and more people would like to turn their thinking and decision-making over to a machine. This, in turn, will erode relationships and isolate people from each other.<\/p>\n

    Go just about anywhere today, and people will have their noses buried in their phones. I\u2019d notice it more, but I am guilty also.<\/p>\n

    And this brings me to my fears for my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    Brain Drain.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Recently, we drove to Florida and back to Lima. As I drove on the interstate highways, I was surprised by the number of semi-trailer trucks hauling cargo on the highway. It seemed like for every two or three cars, there was a semi.<\/p>\n

    I realized that if those trucks stopped delivering products, in a few days, we would find empty shelves in the grocery store. We are ALL dependent on this system. The same can be said for all systems we depend on, for example, the internet, water, electricity, sewer, trash removal, etc.<\/p>\n

    And AI is another system that will be indispensable in the next few years.<\/p>\n

    But it is different. As AI gets smarter and more independent, we may relinquish our thinking and decision-making to a machine; we may not retain our independent thought and our critical thinking. In general, I do not think that is healthy for humans. I think it could be a disaster for our society.<\/p>\n

    ChatGPT summarized my thoughts this way:<\/p>\n

    \u201cYour concern is that when people become completely dependent on an outside authority to provide the necessities of life, they may gradually surrender the independence, skills, judgment, and freedoms necessary to govern their own lives.\u201d I wish I had come up with that myself.<\/p>\n

    I asked ChatGPT if there were other movies or books that explored similar themes of an AI taking over, people giving up their freedoms for convenience, and what society would be like. There were several options, but the one that got my attention was a short story from 1909, titled \u201cThe Machine Stops.\u201d<\/p>\n

    It is about twenty-five pages and is in the public domain. As I read the story, I noted the following:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • The Machine provided all needs for every human. They did not call it a computer because that word did not exist then.<\/li>\n
    • They lived underground; a single person lived in a single apartment.<\/li>\n
    • They rarely left the room because there was no need to leave.<\/li>\n
    • Parental rights terminated at birth.<\/li>\n
    • Children were raised by the Machine.<\/li>\n
    • While they could go out and travel, it was discouraged, and they needed a permit.<\/li>\n
    • People primarily talked to each other remotely.<\/li>\n
    • Touching each other was distasteful. Handshaking was frowned upon<\/li>\n
    • Outside was thought to be toxic, and gas masks were worn. But apparently, it was a lie and not toxic.<\/li>\n
    • Strict population control.<\/li>\n
    • No love or intimate relationships.<\/li>\n
    • The Machine has replaced God.<\/li>\n
    • The only book is the Machine\u2019s manual; it is treated as scripture and kissed in adoration by some.<\/li>\n
    • Remote classes are ten minutes long.<\/li>\n
    • Original thinking is discouraged and is distasteful.<\/li>\n
    • Nobody knows how the Machine works.<\/li>\n
    • Disaster strikes when the Machine fails.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      And there are more parallels.<\/p>\n

      While Forster\u2019s story is just a story, it does show that even 117 years ago, people realized that humans may give up much for a life where all their needs are met.<\/p>\n

      My hope is that reality unfolds differently than the stories predict. The future does not have to be one where technology replaces our independence. We need to work to teach future generations to think critically, question, and not blindly accept everything we are told. Technology needs to be a tool, not our master. We can embrace its benefits without surrendering what make us human.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Wall-E is available on Disney Plus or for a rental fee on major streaming services.<\/p>\n

      \u201cThe Machine Stops\u201d is posted on GeraldThompson.com if you are interested.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      However, in 2008, Pixar released an animated sci-fi movie titled Wall-E. As I watched the movie, I became angrier and angrier.<\/p>\n

      Wall-E was the last working trash-compacting robot left on the planet after Earth became so polluted that it could not sustain life. It would scoop up garbage and compact it into a small cube and then stack it. There were many stacks all over.<\/p>\n

      Meanwhile, humans retreated into the cosmos in these luxury space cruise liners. There is no indication of whether this space liner was the only one or what happened to the people left on Earth. You only know is that when it passed by Earth, they dumped their garbage on it.<\/p>\n

      I started getting angry when I saw the passengers. Over 700 years, each generation gained more and more weight. They were so large and heavy that they needed antigravity chairs to float around on. Robots catered to their every pleasure. To me, they seemed to be giant, overweight five-year-olds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":155,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-i"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":166,"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions\/166"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}