The people do not yearn for automation
TLDR
- Nilay Patel argues that “software brain” – the compulsion to automate everything – is why general-public hostility toward AI persists despite soaring ChatGPT usage.
Key Takeaways
- “Software brain” frames the world as information flows and automatable loops; Patel argues this worldview is increasingly detached from how most people experience life.
- AI has made it easier than ever to automate large chunks of any business, with automation now the cutting edge of advertising and marketing over creative work.
- Apple, Google, and Amazon have spent over a decade failing to get regular people to care about smart home automation – a concrete data point against the automation-demand assumption.
- Patel’s framing: the limit of software brain is that it flattens human experience, and that is the root cause of public AI resentment.
Why It Matters
- Builders and operators who assume automation demand is universal are misreading the majority of potential users, not just a resistant fringe.
- The divergence between rising ChatGPT usage numbers and broad public unpopularity with AI suggests two different populations with two different relationships to the technology.
- Patel’s essay (available as both written piece and video) is cited by Simon Willison as likely to shape his thinking long-term, flagging it as high-signal cultural commentary for the AI industry.
Simon Willison, Simon Willison’s Weblog · 2026-04-24 · Read the original
