Shannon Vallor

shannonvallor.bsky.social

13 October 2026 07:43

OK, since this thread has blown up a bit, I think it's worth clarifying in a new thread to what extent the 'GenAI is asbestos for the mind' analogy might hold up, and where it breaks down (as even useful analogies always do): 1/n

Shannon Vallor

shannonvallor.bsky.social

13 October 2026 07:43

Fourth, the cost of getting GenAI out of the walls will disproportionately harm those with the least resources & power to do so. It was only the wealthiest countries in the world--including those that first mined and marketed asbestos insulation--that stopped using it and paid for remediation. 12/n

Shannon Vallor

shannonvallor.bsky.social

13 October 2026 07:43

Third, because it's in the walls, so to speak, it's hard to avoid. You often don't know when you're in a house that still has asbestos. It's also increasingly hard to see where GenAI is present in our collective cognitive endeavours. I know I'm not using it, but anyone I write with might be. 11/n

Shannon Vallor

shannonvallor.bsky.social

13 October 2026 07:42

Second, and most obviously, by the time we realized the severity of asbestos' harms, it was already in all the walls. The comparison with GenAI is obvious. It's already in the walls -- of our schools, our governments, our media, our courts -- before we have measured the severity of its harms 10/n

Shannon Vallor

shannonvallor.bsky.social

13 October 2026 07:42

OK, then how IS GenAI like 'asbestos for the mind'? First, any damage asbestos does is initially unperceived. You don't feel your lungs being damaged until much later. GenAI actually makes most people feel cognitively stronger at first, even when they are instead becoming cognitively dependent. 9/n