Technology

And people could simply not work for major corps.

And they could simply not buy plastic clothes from Walmart.

And they could simply grow their own food.

Etc etc.

I understand where you're coming from, but you could almost always say this about every kind of mistake every person has ever made, and then sit there wondering why humans ever make mistakes, you know?

Then you're not critically trying to think and examine the implications of this new technology. And that's fine, we all can't do all the things but we can listen to the people around us without being pretentious tools who would say I told you so.

It would also have been simple to not use any technology ever that has had controversy around it

But unless you are actively a lodite hermit living in the woods with no connection to the world. In which case your opinion on the topic doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things since clearly you already have a unhealthy relationship with reality.

Learning to have a healthy relationship with new tech is how to actually deal with shit. Not ignoring it forever as if pandoras box wasn't open.

It's not going anywhere, even if the bubble pops and all of it dies. Local models will only become more and more common, the tech will only become easier and easier to run and more efficient and effective.

Even if it devolves into a specialist tool for research and science only. That still is going to be something you will have to come to grips with.

The tech is far far more than just chat bots.