A population of little emperors

Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor, paid a servant to walk behind him and whisper in his ear “you’re only a man”…

Well, that’s how the legend goes (it was actually Philip of Macedon, but Aurelius wrote this himself in his diary enough times)

Why? Because the danger of being an emperor is that you always hear how right, beautiful, and perfect you are. You instead need to contend with your fallibility and stay grounded in reality.

Now? People are walking around with an AI in their pockets telling them “you’re absolutely right”, “your idea is great”, and “the world just can’t see your genius, but I can”

“AI psychosis” is the extreme version people are naming — but a milder dose hits all of us, and if we’re not careful we’ll have a population of little emperors running around.

But the same AI can be used in different ways.

That chatbot in your pocket can just as easily challenge you as flatter you.

Sense-check your thinking. Play devil’s advocate. Poke holes in the idea you’ve fallen in love with. Simulate ten different people who see it differently and make you earn your position against all of them.

Instead of needing someone to follow you around and keep you grounded, you’ve got an endless supply on tap, any hour, practically for free.

How you use AI will determine how it shapes you: into a little emperor who only hears applause, or someone with sharper thinking than you’d manage alone.