By Guardian staff reporter
Publication Date: 2026-04-27 15:30:00
When I read Alexander Hurst’s column about the frictionless experience of life promised – or threatened – by AI algorithms, I was struck by how little I recognized the picture he painted of everyday experience stripped of the friction necessary to give it meaning (To be human is to live with friction. That’s something AI boosters will never understand, April 23). Is it not the case that all of us, apart from the mega-rich, suffer from excessive tensions due to rising costs of living, avoidably dilapidated public spaces, poor housing conditions and countless associated burdens?
I am part of a volunteer group who cook hot meals twice a week for homeless and destitute people in central Liverpool. The hot meal they pick up from us may be the only relief they receive that day from the constant, grueling analogue problems of invisibility, illness, disrespect and material poverty: the only realization they receive that a certain level of comfort is a prerequisite for survival. The specific…
