SAN FRANCISCO — For years, workers braced for artificial intelligence (AI) to take their jobs.
Now, a former Google project manager has flipped the script, launching a satirical digital experiment that trades large language models for human labor — and it is taking Silicon Valley by storm.
Tucker Bryant, 32, is the creator of ChatTJB, a platform featuring a familiar text interface with a distinct twist. When users type a prompt, they are not connected to a massive neural network backed by billions in capital investment. Instead, their inquiries are answered by Bryant himself or one of thousands of volunteers. On the platform, the acronym “AI” stands for “average individual.”
What began in April as a localized art project aimed at challenging society’s overreliance on automated systems quickly turned into a viral sensation.
Driven by a $6,000 billboard campaign in San Francisco boasting a “leading chat interface powered by AI” — with an asterisk clarifying the joke — the platform was inundated with traffic. At its peak, ChatTJB received upwards of 5,000 prompts an hour, ranging from mundane dinner suggestions to deep personal reflections.
“I have been speaking to an average of about 1,000 people a day about what to eat for dinner, what color to paint their homes, and everything else that’s been on their minds,” Bryant said on social media.
To date, the site has processed more than 100,000 queries. The overwhelming volume forced Bryant to step back from answering every prompt personally and recruit help.
More than 10,000 people have applied to serve as volunteer “Average Individuals,” with the waitlist expanding by roughly 1,000 applicants daily. Bryant has since instituted vetting quizzes and message triaging to manage the growing community-driven operation.
The motivation behind ChatTJB stems from a growing psychological phenomenon known as “cognitive surrender,” a concept coined by Wharton professors Steven D. Shaw and Gideon Nave. Their research demonstrates that while AI assistance boosts user performance when the technology is correct, reliance on flawed AI output causes human accuracy to drop sharply. Bryant experienced this firsthand when he caught himself asking an app whether to wear short sleeves on a mild afternoon in a city where he had lived for seven years.
By design, ChatTJB restores the friction that tech firms spend millions trying to eliminate. Responses take time, resources are scarce, and answers carry a distinct personal touch rather than programmatic authority.
Academic experts view the platform’s unexpected rise as an indicator of a deeper cultural urge. Shaw noted that ChatTJB succeeds not because consumers prefer inefficient software, but because it reinstates a human element missing from modern technology.
While Bryant views ChatTJB primarily as a temporary conceptual art piece, he remains open to future partnerships to make the initiative sustainable, proving that even in the epicenter of the AI boom, there remains a compelling demand for genuine human interaction.