wouldn’t have seen the benefit in cars

Yeah, because the widespread adoption of cars turned out to be such a great idea with no negative consequences... But even if you ignore the glaringly obvious negatives, AI still doesn't come anywhere close to having the practical utility as the modern car. At least a car can carry out its advertised function without issues.

I've been using AI almost daily for several years now, as a function of my job. It's garbage tech. Most of the things it's supposed to be good for it downright sucks at, and the stuff it is good at has already been possible using simpler, more reliable systems for years — sometimes even decades. The situation isn't really improving, either. Models are using more energy, consuming more data, and doing more computation than ever before... but the results are still embarrassingly underwhelming. Anyone who's bothered to educate themselves on the math and method behind the models knows by now that the current generation of AI is dead-end technology, and anyone who claims otherwise is either ignorant of the technical details, has a vested financial interest in AI, or both.

It also really fucking irritates me to be constantly called a Luddite by people who don't even know how this technology fucking works... No, I don't hate AI because I'm scared of technology, or "progress" or whatever the fuck. I've made a career working in technology. I love tech... or I used to, before everyone lost their god damn minds praying to Sam Altman and his horrifyingly expensive golden idol. No, I hate AI because it's demonstrably bad technology.