Fear in Four Flavors or What Is in the Closet?
November 6, 2025
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
AI fear. Are you afraid to resist the push to make smart software a part of your life. I think of AI as a utility, a bit like old fashioned enterprise search just on very expensive steroids. One never knows how that drug use will turn out. Will the athlete win trophies or drop from heart failure in the middle of an event?
The write up “Meet the People Who Dare to Say No to Artificial Intelligence” is a rehash of some AI tropes. What makes the write up stand up and salute is a single line in the article. (This is a link from Microsoft. If the link is dead, call let one of its caring customer support chatbots know, not me.) Here it is:
Michael, a 36-year-old software engineer in Chicago who spoke on the condition that he be identified only by his first name out of fear of professional repercussions…
I find this interesting. A professional will not reveal his name for fear of “professional repercussions.” I think the subject is algorithms, not politics. I think the subject is neural networks, not racial violence. I think the subject is online, not the behavior of a religious figure.
Two roommates are afraid of a blue light. Very normal. Thanks, Venice.ai. Good enough.
Let’s think about the “fear” of talking about smart software.
I asked AI why a 35-year-old would experience fear. Here’s the short answer from the remarkably friendly, eager AI system:
- Biological responses to perceived threats,
- Psychological factors like imagination and past trauma,
- Personality traits,
- Social and cultural influences.
It seems to me that external and internal factors enter into fear. In the case of talking about smart software, what could be operating. Let me hypothesize for a moment.
First, the person may see smart software as posing a threat. Okay, that’s an individual perception. Everyone can have an opinion. But the fear angle strikes me as a displacement activity in the brain. Instead of thinking about the upside of smart software, the person afraid to talk about a collection of zeros and ones only sees doom and gloom. Okay, I sort of understand.
Second, the person may have some psychological problems. But software is not the same as a seven year old afraid there is a demon in the closet. We are back, it seems, to the mysteries of the mind.
Third, the person is fearful of zeros and ones because the person is afraid of many things. Software is just another fear trigger like a person uncomfortable around little spiders is afraid of a great big one like the tarantulas I had to kill with a piece of wood when my father wanted to drive his automobile in our garage in Campinas, Brazil. Tarantulas, it turned out, liked the garage because it was cool and out of the sun. I guess the garage was similar to a Philz’ Coffee to an AI engineer in Silicon Valley.
Fourth, social and cultural influences cause a person to experience fear. I think of my neighbor approached by a group of young people demanding money and her credit card. Her social group consists of 75 year old females who play bridge. The youngsters were a group of teenagers hanging out in a parking lot in an upscale outdoor mall. Now my neighbor does not want to go to the outdoor mall alone. Nothing happened but those social and cultural influences kicked in.
Anyway fear is real.
Nevertheless, I think smart software fear boils down to more basic issues. One, smart software will cause a person to lose his or her job. The job market is not good; therefore, fear of not paying bills, social disgrace, etc. kick in. Okay, but it seems that learning about smart software might take the edge off.
Two, smart software may suck today, but it is improving rapidly. This is the seven year old afraid of the closet behavior. Tough love says, “Open the closet. Tell me what you see.” In most cases, there is no person in the closet. I did hear about a situation involving a third party hiding in the closet. The kid’s opening the door revealed the stranger. Stuff happens.
Three, a person was raised in an environment in which fear was a companion that behavior may carry forward. Boo.
Net net: What is in Mr. AI’s closet?
Stephen E Arnold, November 6, 2025
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