Referencing an article by Abi Awomosu, Maha Bali argues that AI is not 'just a tool'. "At best, Generative AI is like a swiss knife, but you can't control which item within the swiss knife comes at you at any point in time, even with 'careful prompting'. It also has hidden elements you don't know, and you also can't control whether it gets used on you, even if you choose not to use it yourself." OK, fair enough. Not just a tool. But what, then? Maybe it's more like a 'medium-institution' where "it becomes the place where social, economic, and epistemic life happens. It sets norms. It creates gatekeeping. It arbitrates who gets to speak. It builds the archives that constitute collective memory." I think that's overstating it. Here is maybe a better analogy: working with AI is like working with an animal. It can greatly extend your capacities, but it can be capricious and act like it has a mind of its own.
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