After posting an Instagram video encouraging women to learn more about artificial intelligence, Reese Witherspoon sparks backlash.
The Oscar-Winning actor and producer, known for shining a light on women’s voices through her book club, television, and movie projects, is once again backing AI, and authors have a few things to say about it.
In a post uploaded April 16, Witherspoon pushed her thoughts about AI with a caption that read: “Well… I’ve decided it’s TIME. The AI revolution has begun, and I need to learn as much as I possibly can about AI and share it with all of you. Also, FYI: the jobs women hold are 3x more likely to be automated by AI, yet women are using AI at a rate 25% lower than men on average. We don’t want to be left behind. So… do you want to learn with me?”
In the video, Witherspoon is talking about her book club, where she asked the others if they used AI and were familiar with it. “If three out of 10 women are the only ones using AI, that means 70% of that group is not keeping up,” she said based on her findings. “The thing I’ve learned about technology is if you don’t get a little bit of understanding from the very beginning, it just speeds past you. So you have to have little bits of learning just to keep up.”
Even though Witherspoon is urging women to learn about AI to help keep jobs, a lot of comments are not fond of the idea of using AI. Artificial intelligence has been the center of debate for a while now, with a large group of individuals resenting the idea that AI is being used in everything.
While AI seems to be creeping into every aspect of our lives, the cons of it are evident. Because of that, many have commented on her post with backlash, with one of the top comments simply saying, “Resistance is not ignorance.”
More comments have agreed with the sentiment, with one comment saying, “This isn’t a feminist move [in my opinion], it’s submitting to a technology that is devastating to poor communities and the environment.”
Many have bashed the star for her take that women are being left behind, or that this needs to be a feminist movement. Along with that, but authors have even spoken about their thoughts regarding her post, with Bad Feminist author Roxane Gay saying, “Oh, Reese. Absolutely not.”
Screenwriter and director Charlene Bagcal posted on Threads, saying, “This is obviously a scripted ad, and it’s genuinely infuriating. Notice how AI’s biggest defenders are the ones cashing checks from it. AI isn’t inevitable. Technology follows society. If people stop suing it, it dies. We still have agency.”
While AI seems to be here right now, it’s clear that there are more cons than pros, and hopefully, the trend will slowly die out.
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