What if your next question to an AI wasn’t answered by a machine, but by a human? That's the premise behind ChatTJB, an art project created by Tucker Bryant. Bryant, a public speaker and former Google project manager, sits down to answer prompts himself, whether it’s drawing a frog eating spaghetti or suggesting what to have for dinner.

Bryant launched ChatTJB in April but only gained traction when his $6,000 billboard went up in San Francisco. By August 6th, he had received over 30,000 queries and was fielding around 5,000 prompts an hour at its peak. Despite the success, Bryant sees ChatTJB as more of a commentary on our relationship with technology than a joke.

Reflecting on his interactions with language models, Bryant highlights concerns about 'cognitive surrender,' where we rely too heavily on AI for decision-making. He warns that deferring to machines without critical thinking could be harmful. For instance, he recounts asking an LLM what to wear and feeling like it was easier to defer to the model rather than use his own judgment.

For Bryant, the value of ChatTJB lies in providing a human interaction for people seeking advice or just a chat. He plans to keep the project going, even though only four people have paid for his 'worthless' Pro tier so far.