SEPTEMBER 14, 2026 – Remember when the war in Iran was all over the news? Until recently, I thought we were never going to hear the end of it . . . the war—er, military conflict or military operation or whatever else the Administration calls (a) large scale depletion of our munitions arsenal, (b) the death of 18 service people and injury suffered by 800 more and overall strain on over 50,000 soldiers, sailors and marines in theater indefinitely, and (c) blowing an estimated $1.5 billion per day for leaving us less secure, more economically vulnerable and strategically disadvantaged . . . all to avoid having to seek Congressional approval for the . . . war.
Why is none of this news anymore? Why hasn’t it left Republicans and their cult leader with an approval rating of less than 10%? Why hasn’t it resulted in a straight path for a Democratic sweep seven short weeks from now?
One reason is short attention spans. Another is sensory overload. A third is that the non-war war has been shoved aside by something potentially bigger. Now the problem child we’ve created for ourselves—AI—is hogging the headlines, as well it should. “Scary” tech has been around ever since the internet opened for business, so to speak, but not until last week did the alarm bells coalesce into a big, bad, BONG!
Yes, of course, there’s nothing new about AI (technology with a long history and sourced in “mathematics”), just as there’s nothing new about a medieval catapult. What’s stunningly different, though, is that instead of hurling flaming tar balls at the ramparts of the fortress we call civilization, the progression of technology has catapulted itself into a mind of its own. More than that, the device has figured out how to replicate itself by the thousands, make whatever projectiles it decides to create—and hurl them wherever the minds of the catapults want. How long will it be before they’re pitching the bodies of ebola victims over the fortress walls . . . not to mention unleashing any number of other horribles?
It seems to me we’re all too late to the party. By “we” I don’t mean only people such as I, whose technology prowess begins and ends with connecting my iPhone to a charger and my eyes and ears to the internet. I mean the individuals on the cutting edge of AI engineering. The Sam Altmans, the Dario Amodeis, and yes, the Elon Musks. Ever since last week’s news, The Three Technos have been on the vanguard of a growing chorus advocating caution.
Then comes our fearless—“fearless”? Let’s call him what he is: “mindless”—leader, who claims in his usual inartful manner, “AI taking over the World, and destroying Humanity, and all other things bad, is a HOAX [sic].” In a further effort to undermine the world’s respect for America, he posted on Truth Social, “the only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!” [sic] Reportedly, when he was asked if he “used AI,” he answered affirmatively but when asked to provide examples, he had none. When I heard this, I did a double take. To be charitable, the questions—and responses—were as gobsmacking as they come . . . right down there with asking, “Do you use the internet?” and answering, “Yes,” then being asked “How?” and responding, “I don’t know.”
Upon hearing/reading Trump’s take on tech, I couldn’t decide which posed the greater or more immediate threat to our existence: AI or NS . . . Artificial Intelligence or Numbskull Stupidity. When, just hypothetically, I added AI and NS, I shuddered. The result was NS . . . squared; an outcome that sent me into sudden panic. With hope against hope, I decided to double-check my calculation by consulting . . . AI, of course.
My verbatim query: “What is the sum of artificial intelligence and numbskull stupidity?”
In its infinite wisdom and erudition, the internet (AI) informed me that it was “thinking,” for all of about five seconds. Then it flashed its response:
The sum of artificial intelligence and numbskull stupidity is often called artificial stupidity (or occasionally natural stupidity interacting with technology).
In computer science and tech culture, this intersection usually refers to a few specific concepts:
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- Artificial Stupidity: This is a technical term for when developers purposely program an AI to make mistakes or act less intelligently, usually so human players can beat it in video games.
- The “Garbage In, Garbage Out” Effect: When highly advanced AI systems are trained on “numbskull” data or prompt engineering, they confidently generate completely incorrect, absurd, or nonsensical answers (also known as AI hallucinations).
- Human-AI Echo Chamber: When an intelligent machine perfectly automates or scales a foolish human decision, executing a bad idea at lightning speed.
Are you looking at this from a philosophical standpoint, or did you recently run into a hilariously bad AI-generated response you’d like to break down?
I laughed out loud. For my ongoing anxiety attack over AI, AI’s response was ironically the best antidote I could’ve found—a reminder that this potentially catastrophic technology is a double-edged sword with a very dull side and a beguiling hilt.
If only AI could make Trump a SMART AND STRONG (HIGH IQ!) PRESIDENT (in spades). But if AI is an über genius, it’s no genie that grants wishes. Thus, come November 4, the fate of American democracy and a whole lot more will depend on us voters turning out in record numbers for Team Blue . . . followed by aggressive reversals of Trump’s overreach and Republican malfeasance.
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© 2026 by Eric Nilsson
