This essay distinguishes the legitimate defense of creative labor from the conversion of that defense into a professional moat. It does not claim that every critic of generative AI is economically self-interested, or that AI is inherently emancipatory. The personal episode described below reflects the author’s recollection and interpretation; no former collaborator is named. “Idea People” and “Idea Helpers” describe overlapping production roles, not permanent classes of intelligence, talent, or human worth.

AI is becoming an unregulated cognitive accessibility layer for neurodivergent people. The question is no longer whether people will offload memory, planning, sequencing, emotional translation, and task initiation to machines. They already are. The question is whether that offloading becomes liberation, dependency, surveillance, or another workplace productivity trap.