Realistic AI Interview

INTERVIEW: Steve Jobs on "The Ghost in the Machine" A special feature for Wired, January 2025

WIRED: Steve, it's been... well, it's been a while. The world has changed. AI is in everything now. What's your take?

STEVE JOBS: (leaning back, fingers steepled) You know, I died in 2011, right? And you're telling me the best we've got in 2025 is a chatbot that writes mediocre poetry and steals from artists? (pause) That's not progress. That's laziness dressed up as innovation.

WIRED: That's a strong indictment of generative AI. You don't see the breakthrough?

JOBS: Oh, I see the potential. I always see the potential. But right now, it's like we've built a race car and we're using it to deliver pizza. It's fragmented. It's messy. You've got these "agents" that can't remember what you said three minutes ago, "art" tools that need a PhD in prompt engineering, and companies shoveling AI into products like it's ketchup on a steak. It’s disgusting.

WIRED: So what would you do differently? If you were back at Apple—

JOBS: (interrupting) I never left. Not really. But fine. If I were running things? I'd fire anyone who used the term "AI" in a marketing meeting. It's not AI. It's a bicycle for the mind. Or it should be. Right now it's a unicycle for the ego. It falls over unless you're constantly balancing it.

WIRED: You've always been obsessed with the intersection of technology and liberal arts. Does AI have a place there?

JOBS: (eyes lighting up slightly) Now that's the right question. See, you've got these engineers building tools they don't understand, and artists using tools they can't trust. The magic happens when technology disappears. When the tool becomes an extension of your will. Right now, AI is a parlor trick. It's impressive without being good. There's a difference.

WIRED: What's the difference?

JOBS: (standing up, pacing) The difference is this: A Mac Plus in 1986 let a kid in Nebraska make a newsletter that looked as good as The New York Times. That was empowering. It was democratic. Today's AI? It lets that same kid generate a picture of a cat in a spaceship. Who cares? It's consumption masquerading as creation. It's not giving people agency. It's giving them spells they don't understand, cast by a cabal of Silicon Valley wizards who also don't understand them.

WIRED: So you don't believe in AI-assisted creativity?

JOBS: (sitting back down, intense) No, no, no. You're not listening. I believe in assistance. Real assistance. Not this... plagiarism engine you call ChatGPT. I'm talking about an AI