Reese Witherspoon's recent soft pitch of artificial intelligence as a way to empower women didn't go as planned.
Across her social media accounts, Witherspoon released a short video in which she began by saying: "It's time to learn about AI."
To back up that thought, she revealed that in a book club she attended, only three of the 10 there used the tech, with a single one feeling confident in their usage. She framed this as a threat to women, in particular.
"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," she wrote in the caption. "We don't want to be left behind."
The video then suggested that she'd be learning AI on her own and wanted to share it with her followers.
As it turned out, many of them pushed back strongly against Witherspoon's presumption that they were onboard and OK with its associated impacts.
"Please start your education with data centers - where they're being built, the amount of electricity they use, and the dire effects on communities where they are," an Instagram commenter suggested.
Indeed, there is growing backlash against the data centers that power AI. Their skyrocketing energy use and their negative impacts on the grid, utility prices, and water supplies are hard to miss.
"If we all decide not to use it, the people who own it can't monetize from it, and our brains, our society, and our environment will thank us!" another user wrote.
That adds the potential societal costs of AI, such as costing people their jobs, spreading misinformation, or hurting users' social skills.
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Save $1,000 this year 💸 A vocal group in the commentary was those in the creative space. With Witherspoon's films, book club, and other ventures promoting human creativity and opportunity in these areas, that isn't a surprise.
"You are such a champion for books and your Lit Up Fellowship program is incredible," wrote author Melissa Grace on Instagram Threads. "But do you realize how many creatives, how many writers are fighting against AI?"
Indeed, Hollywood and the literary community are actively concerned about AI's infiltration.
While Witherspoon framed her AI exploration as a way to keep up, the reaction from most commenters indicates they'd prefer the focus to be on finding ways to keep AI down where it might threaten the environment and society.
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