You know that feeling when you're on hold with customer service? You hear that soothing AI voice, all calm and reassuring, promising a swift resolution. "Your call is important to us," it drones on, while you're secretly plotting its demise. The Cogs of Progress: A Look at the AI Illusion But here's the kicker: that seemingly effortless AI conversation? It's likely being propped up by a real, live human somewhere in the world, probably earning peanuts, desperately trying to keep up with the demands of the digital overlords. We're in the midst of an AI revolution, they say. Robots are taking over! Soon, we'll all be sipping margaritas on the beach while machines do all the dirty work. Sounds idyllic, doesn't it? Well, hold your horses, folks. The truth is a bit more… mundane. You see, these "intelligent" machines aren't actually intelligent at all. They're glorified parrots, regurgitating information fed to them by… you gues...