The Yale Review | What Was AI? A Folio on Life in the Age of LLMs

https://yalereview.org/folio-what-was-ai

Publish Date: 2026-06-08 06:02:00

Here’s an unordered list summarizing the key points of the article:

– The article titled “What Was AI?” captures a moment in time where AI was rapidly advancing, noting that what was considered AI in the present day will evolve quickly.

– The launch of ChatGPT in 2022 had an astonishing rise in user adoption, reaching 100 million users within months and 900 million weekly active users by February 2026.

– “Artificial intelligence” primarily refers to large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT which have permeated daily life, work, and personal interactions.

– The adoption of AI influences both the workplace and personal lives dramatically. There is notable concern regarding job displacement and the shift towards supervising AI systems, and AI’s infiltration into romantic and psychological experiences is reshaping human relationships.

– Generative AI technologies are being aggressively developed, including controversial applications in warfare, prompting significant societal and ethical questions about AI’s direction and regulation.

– The piece discusses literary perspectives and analyses on AI’s impact through various works, aiming to provoke deeper reflection on AI’s evolving role in society.