AI may have benefits – but we could do without the chads.
(Image credit: Guus ter Beek)
Heard enough AI waffle to last a lifetime? If you're tired of sermons on integrating LLMs and prompt-first thinking, you'll delight in the opportunity to shoot down the AI evangelist Chad in the caustic little browser-based game ChadGPT.
The short, tongue-in-cheek HTML and JavaScript text game invites the player to silence an AI enthusiast by choosing the correct response to shut him down, or else suffer more buzzwords and lose health.
But the game also demonstrates an ambivalence to AI – its creator used vibe coding via GPT-3.5-turbo (o3-mini-high) for generating the core logic, and the writing was developed with ChatGPT. Music by Danijel Zambo enhances the retro vibe and cheeky tone.
Guus ter Beek says he was inspired to create the game after reading one too many vacuous LinkedIn posts praising the transformative power of generative AI in the creative fields. As a creative director who's worked with brands like Lexus, Toyota and Nike, he recognises the benefits of some AI-powered tools, but he's also had enough of the empty talk.
I asked him more about the inspiration for the game and how he views AI in general.
Can you silence ChadGPT? (Image credit: Guus ter Beek)
ChadGPT gives me the impression that you must have suffered listening a lot of AI waffle yourself. Have you come across pressure to adopt AI in your work?
You're right about the suffering. After years of wading through LinkedIn's tidal wave of AI-generated slop, I finally decided to make a game about it. One that pokes fun at the vacuous waffle flooding professional feeds. AI bros, growth hackers, rage-baiters, slop merchants. In short, Chads.
It’s not a takedown of AI itself, but of the chads owning the narrative in our daily feed. I would love to see more discerning voices, original thinkers who know how to wield AI to make great commercial work. Right now, they’re buried under listicles and motivational platitudes. Yet I’ve also seen a new generation of creatives dive in and adapt fast.
The pressure is on everywhere you look. Right now, AI is only as smart as the person using it. What happens when it surpasses us (super intelligence)? Even Silicon Valley doesn’t have that answer yet.
It’s not a takedown of AI itself, but of the chads owning the narrative in our daily feed.
Do you think it's merely the latest business speak, or is AI bringing real change in creative industries?
Both co-exist. Agencies must avoid the pitfalls we’re seeing emerge now, a race to the bottom and mindlessly leaning on AI to slash costs and crank out lower‑grade work. Things are changing rapidly.
But, for a taste of what a human and AI partnership can achieve, I recently got inspired by SuperHeroes agency. In a film "It's gonna be a good good summer" for Lenovo, filmmaker and artist Paul Trillo transports us with a dreamlike spectacle in the clouds.
Trillo filmed Emmy award-winning movement designer HOK and dancer Erica Klein. They’ve used actual human input for training to create something wonderful, using AI as a co‑creator rather than a gimmick.
I notice the game was vibe coded. Despite the waffle, do you think AI tools do offer real benefits for creative work?
I’ve jumped on the vibe‑coding trend, transforming concepts into prototypes without writing a single line of JavaScript. Suddenly, technical abilities aren’t a barrier to selling impactful ideas to clients.
It hugely benefits my workflow, AI handles structure, deep research, and data crunching, but it still misses the cultural nuance, real emotion, taste. It doesn’t instinctively know when something feels off, or when a detail could elevate the work from good to unforgettable. That still requires human instinct.
ChadGPT invites users to choose the right response to shut chad up (Image credit: Guus ter Beek)
Do you use AI tools in your everyday work, and do you have any fears about AI's potential impact on jobs?
A quick scan of my subscriptions shows I’m juggling 10+ AI services. I need an AI assistant just to remember them all…
In terms of the fears and impacts on jobs, I see three things happening. First, yes, jobs are being cut, especially routine work. Second, AI frees us from repetitive tasks, and those who can direct it well will thrive. Third, there's a risk of creative sameness if everyone leans on the same tools without taste or intention. This we've seen happen already with many trends recently.
I sit somewhere in between, hopeful that with skepticism, creativity, and an eye for what truly adds value, we can use AI to elevate our ideas rather than plunge into the slop.
Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.
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