AI Hypervigilance Has Become a Constant Cognitive Burden for Users

Summary

This opinion article argues that generative AI has shifted effort from software providers onto users, who must constantly determine whether the content and interactions they encounter are genuine. The author says AI-generated text often shares an uncanny, standardized voice, making websites and services feel less trustworthy and increasing what he calls AI hypervigilance. He connects that vigilance to a broader “scam economy,” where AI helps scale book-club scams, fake students seeking financial aid, phantom companies stealing job applicants’ data, fabricated résumés, and spam. The article also describes reported risks in healthcare, including professionals hiding AI use and producing incorrect referrals or prescriptions. It notes that European disclosure requirements and some product-level AI filters are emerging, while other platforms continue to distribute or generate AI content without giving users effective ways to avoid it. Beyond authenticity checks, the author argues that repeated exposure to AI-generated “slop” reinforces a narrow writing style and can flatten language, creativity, cultural values, decisions, and opinions. He warns that consuming such content may train people to produce similarly commoditized work, weakening the cognitive diversity that knowledge-intensive organizations depend on. The article concludes by urging people to explain what they mean and write it with their own judgment, while previewing a follow-up on how reliance on language models can replace independent thinking.