“Overcoming AI Trepidation” or “Surviving Awkward Chats About AI Over Christmas Dinner”
As I write this, the holiday season is approaching. And as excited as I am to spend time with my loved ones, there is one thing I’m not looking forward to: talking with my family over Christmas dinner… And the loaded gun on the table: artificial intelligence.
I’m dreading the moment my Uncle Joe launches into a lecture about how AI is the downfall of civilization.
I’m terrified that my cousin Megan will renounce me altogether because I dare to use AI at work.
And I’m mortified imagining my AI-worshipping father scolding both of them for “standing in the path of progress!”
If you’ve had similar experiences, welcome. This article is for you.
The rise of artificial intelligence has turned the world upside down, sparking heated discussions among friends and families. Even though I’ve adopted AI in my work, I still feel the pressure when speaking with loved ones who are staunchly for or against AI. And it’s easy to feel judged when your stance doesn’t perfectly align with theirs. In moments like these, using AI—or even participating in conversations about it—can feel nerve-wracking.
For both your sanity and mine, I’ve written out five of the charged, stressful, and argument-starting statements I’ve heard at family gatherings. I’ve included my thoughts to help you respond in a calm, grounded way—so you can contribute to meaningful conversations about AI without fear. Remember: as special and topical as AI may be, it’s not worth ruining your holiday season.
1. “AI is too radical a change. It will never last.”
Regardless of how you feel about it, AI’s future is as certain as the sunrise. It is a technology with the potential to reshape countless industries. Understandably, this can be alarming to some.
In education especially, AI has been met with distrust. Today’s students not only have access to limitless information but also tools that can synthesize that knowledge and generate arguments automatically. This shift challenges educators to re-examine how they assess critical thinking and identify the areas where AI can contribute to that learning, as well as where it detracts. Finding the balance is, understandably, difficult.
Similarly, the world of design has been disrupted by AI image generators—an evolution we’ve only begun to understand.
Change is scary; no one disputes that. But AI is now widely available to students, teachers, and businesses alike. The toothpaste is already out of the tube—and trying to cram it back in will only create a mess. Later in this article, we’ll look at ways to make AI part of your workflow rather than counting down the days until its downfall.
2. “Using AI is cheating!”
A classic from my Uncle Joe. You could argue this point head-on—but it may be more helpful to examine what we consider “cheating,” and why.
At various points in history, the following were also seen by some as “cheating”:
- Using word-processing software instead of a typewriter
- Using Google instead of the local library
- Taking a photograph instead of painting a portrait
At the end of the day, AI is simply a tool—no different from search engines, citation generators, or spell-checkers. For those who have lived most of their lives without it, AI may feel like a shortcut that bypasses critical thinking. However, for the next generation, it will be just another tool in their belt.
Instead of focusing on whether AI can replace what you already do well, it’s more helpful to consider which tasks drain your time and energy unnecessarily. AI may help fill those gaps.
For example, my work sometimes requires editing small amounts of HTML as a clerical task. I don’t have a coding background, nor do I have the resources to bring on a programmer. While I could spend hours learning HTML to tackle these minor issues, that isn’t where my time is best spent. I use AI to assist with trivial HTML tasks, emails, and simple data analysis—freeing me to focus on work that AI can’t easily replicate, such as instructional design.
Is this cheating? Uncle Joe might say yes— but I think even he’d agree that refusing helpful tools out of principle doesn’t make anyone more ethical. It’s more valuable to examine the intent. Responsible AI use means embracing it as a partner to augment your own creativity and overcome tedious or limiting tasks. However, passing off its work as your own harms the integrity of both the tool and the creator. Before branding AI as cheating at face value, remember that, like any tool, it reflects the intentions of the user.
3. “AI is going to make us humans obsolete.”
This fear often stems from the belief that AI is a flawless, independent thinker. Recently, there has been an unfortunate trend of treating AI language models as objective arbiters— like oracles capable of distinguishing best from worst, truth from fiction, good from evil. This kind of deification is misplaced.
The reality is that AI still makes frequent mistakes. You may have heard the term hallucination, which describes the moments when AI veers off course, producing responses that are confused, incorrect, or based on unreliable information.
AI is also not an objective mediator. Every AI system relies on human-generated prompts and training data to determine how it responds.
What AI is—at its core—is a reflection of human knowledge, complete with both its strengths and its flaws. It is not yet able to function reliably without us, much less replace us. If worrying about obsolescence weighs on you, try reframing your relationship with AI: position yourself as the auditor of your AI companion. Allow it to assist you, but rely on your judgment to verify its output—not the other way around.
4. “AI is the only way forward!” or “AI will be the doom of us all!”
The more divisive an issue becomes, the more extreme the public discourse. As debates around AI intensify, many feel pressured to be all in or completely against it. But it’s perfectly reasonable to feel conflicted, and embracing change doesn’t require becoming its loudest supporter.
Take, for example, the scale of the current moment: we haven’t seen an information revolution like this since the rise of the internet. And while that’s exciting, it often overshadows the environmental cost of AI. Running large AI systems requires massive amounts of energy, and some companies are even reviving old coal and nuclear plants to meet the increased demand. We should ensure that the benefits of AI do not eclipse its broader implications—especially when AI ethics are developing more slowly than AI itself.
Healthy skepticism is vital. It’s okay to acknowledge that artificial intelligence is both a remarkable achievement and a technology with significant consequences for our future. As I mentioned earlier, AI is here to stay; there’s little we can do to undo the AI revolution, but we can examine our habits to ensure we are using it intentionally, strategically, and tactfully, thereby minimizing its harmful impacts.
Holding space for both wonder and worry is not only reasonable— it’s responsible.
5. “You have to have an opinion on AI! It’s the future!”
I get this one a lot. And while I agree that forming an opinion on AI is important, it’s equally important to embrace uncertainty.’
AI is unique: it’s not just a novel technology—it’s one capable of accelerating its own evolution. That means it’s developing at an unprecedented pace, and that pace is only increasing. Compare today’s AI language models and image generators to those from just a few years ago—they’re drastically different.
Embracing uncertainty means acknowledging that AI is powerful, still evolving, and full of unknowns. Even the limitations I’ve mentioned in this article may not exist a year from now.
Final Thoughts
As AI evolves, so will the questions surrounding its ethics, so try not to dig your heels into a stance that might be outdated in a few short years. Staying informed is the best way to stay grounded as AI continues to change before our eyes.
I hope this article has brought you a measure of relief and helps you survive a few uncomfortable conversations at the dinner table this year. If I could leave you with one final thought, it’s this: You don’t need a fierce, unwavering stance on AI. It’s okay to recognize that it’s an exciting, mysterious, and at times alarming part of our present and future.
There’s no rush to have all the answers. Sometimes, it’s better to just relax and enjoy the turkey.
Happy holidays!
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