We Must Be Careful Not to Let AI Take Over How We Live

 In an age when AI can offer ready-made answers to almost any question, even our behavior at weddings or funerals could soon be guided by digital instructions. But what happens to our humanity when our reactions, emotions, and manners all become standardized? This is a reflection on how we should relate to AI before it quietly rewrites our way of living.

 

There are countless moments in life when I find myself wondering, What should I do now?
Weddings and funerals are probably the situations where this feeling arises most often.

As the years go by, invitations to weddings decrease, while opportunities to attend funerals steadily increase.
Family-only services are more common these days, and my actual attendance has declined, but it is still something one must be prepared for.

When I was young, I relied on hastily purchased “etiquette handbooks” and tried to manage with whatever last-minute knowledge I could acquire.
Now, everything can be found online, and you can simply follow the steps displayed on your smartphone.
Ceremonial etiquette has become surprisingly easy.

Soon enough, AI will probably guide our behavior on the spot.
It might tell us that a wedding toast should last three to five minutes, that we should nod politely to the family, or that we ought to slip out after about ten groups have left the reception.
For a funeral, perhaps it will warn us to keep a solemn face during incense offering, and to avoid overeating or overdrinking during the “shōjin-otoshi,” suggesting that we leave after fifteen minutes.
AI could provide instructions down to the smallest detail.

But relying so heavily on AI may eventually lead to something more troubling:
a world where even the “appropriate degree” of joy or sorrow for each kind of relationship is prescribed like a manual.

What kind of society would that create?
People would no longer look around to follow others—they would all follow AI.
Everyone would end up acting in similar ways, like a regiment of robotic soldiers in a science-fiction movie.
It feels eerie now, but in the distant future it might be considered normal.

Human progress has always depended on our acceptance of diversity.
If AI-driven uniformity becomes the default mode of thinking, what will happen to our ability to feel, choose, and deviate?
Convenience is seductive, but if we allow AI to shape our way of living too much, we may end up placing humanity itself at risk.