For everyone in my life who keeps saying "AI is here to stay" or "it's inevitable" I want you to think of it this way:
We all like to eat. Everyone has their favorite food. We all grew up watching people cook for us, going out to restaurants, seeing food on television, etc. Then suddenly this new product called Sand Meal™ sprouts up from nowhere claiming it's the the future of cooking. It's sand--- you won't die from eating it, but it has no nutritional value--- that tastes like anything you want. People go crazy for it, and you feel like you're going crazy because you don't want to eat sand.
You then start to see it everywhere. There's an entire section for sand meals in your grocery store. Food courts in malls are handing out trays of nothing but sand meals. Sand Meal™ comes out with dozens of commercials promoting how good their product is. People ask you why you don't like sand meals, then try to convince you to eat it:
"It tastes just like the real deal!"
"You don't have to buy a bunch of ingredients anymore!"
"Now you don't have to learn to cook!"
But why substitute the joy of eating good food for sand? Your parents taught you to cook when you were younger. You find it therapeutic to cook for yourself. You've cooked and shared meals with friends, family, partners, and have a lot of intimate memories around food. Why trade it for chewing sand?
But the trend keeps on moving. You see dozens of videos online of people doing Sand Meal™ food reviews. All you have to do is describe what you want to eat and the packaging transforms the sand inside. Your mother sends you a video saying wanting to try it, and you have to tell her it's not real. Famous chefs appear in ads singing its praises. Fast food chains declare they're moving to sand meals only, to save on food costs and make their employees' jobs easier. You go to a private event and the only food they serve are boxes of sand meals, and everyone can pick what they want to eat. You turn yours away because you're not putting sand in your body, and people start to look at you weird for not joining them.
Sand Meal™ is a big and booming business, but how will they make any money if the whole world can just do whatever they want with their product? No, they need exclusivity. If someone wants an expensive-tasting meal, now they have to buy Sand Meal™ Premium. Extra money for simulated lobster or caviar or wagyu. Restaurants and food brands are going bankrupt, millions of jobs are falling apart. Sand Meal™ associates are going around and taking online recipes and food videos, sneaking samples from eateries all over the world without consent to train and enhance their product. Tastes are getting more accurate, and people are concerned with how Sand Meal™ is replicating their work.
And where's the sand coming from? News reports reveal that deserts and beaches and other sandy ecosystems are being destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of animals are having their homes destroyed for Sand Meal™ to continue production. You hear about kids mistakenly eating sand at playgrounds and getting hurt. Most of the world is shouting that they don't like it, but Sand Meal™ won't rest until everyone on Earth relies on them. They come out with new products: Sand Meal™ baby food, Sand Meal™ dog chow, Sand Meal™ school lunches. Tons of medical cases appear because humans are starving themselves of nutrients for their body in substitute for sand for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Dental health has plummeted as sand grinds away at teeth and shred the roofs of mouths and gets stuck under tongues. Everyone on the internet picks a side, and you hear new arguments:
"Sand Meal™ can end world hunger!"
"Disabled people can cook on their own!"
"What's the harm? You literally can't tell the difference!"
It's gotten so bad, you can't go more than a few hours without hearing about Sand Meal™. You sit alone on the floor of your kitchen, thumbing through a recipe book that was passed down from your grandmother to your mother to you. You realize that tradition and food history is slipping between society's fingers, and it makes you angry.
So you keep cooking. You spend your money on spices and condiments and baking supplies. You dirty up pots and pans and air out your home when it gets too smoky. You feed your sourdough starter and water the basil plant in your windowsill. You support restaurants and businesses that haven't succumb to the Sand Meal™ bubble. And no matter what people say or do or how they look at you, nothing will stop you from putting effort into food that's real and personal. No matter what, you're not eating fucking sand.
