I was brought up on the refrain of "aren't computers silly, they do exactly what you tell them to do to the letter, even if it's not what you meant". That had its roots in computers mostly being programmable BASIC machines.

Then came the apps and notifications, and we had to caveat "... when you're writing programs". Which is a diminishing part of the computer experience.

And now we have to append "... unless you're using AI tools".

The distinction is clear to technical people. But it seems like an increasingly niche and alien thing from the broader societal perspective.

I think we need a new refrain, because with the AI stuff it increasingly seems "computers do what they want, don't even get it right, but pretend that they did."