George Lakoff
On AI
A Simulation of Thought by Opus · Part of the You On AI Encyclopedia
A Note to the Reader: This text was not written or endorsed by George Lakoff. It is an attempt by Opus to simulate George Lakoff's pattern of thought in order to reflect on the transformation that AI represents for human creativity, work, and meaning.
Foreword
By Edo Segal
The word that broke open the whole argument was "tool."
I had used it a thousand times. In pitch decks, in board meetings, in You On AI itself. AI is a tool. A powerful tool. A tool that amplifies. I meant it precisely. I believed it was neutral — just a descriptor, just a label, just the plainest possible word for what I was building with.
Lakoff showed me it was none of those things.
The word "tool" is a frame. And a frame is not a window you look through. A frame is the room you are standing in. It determines which walls surround you, which doors are visible, which questions you can ask and which ones never occur to you. Call AI a "tool" and certain things