A new billboard has appeared in San Francisco, standing out among the city's tech-heavy advertisements by promoting a service called ChatTJB. While the sign claims to offer a “leading chatbot interface powered by AI,” the acronym in this instance does not stand for artificial intelligence. Soon people began using the service. But AI, in this case, doesn’t stand for artificial intelligence. It stands for “average individual.” And that individual is just a guy named Tucker Bryant.
Bryant describes his project as “artisanal intelligence,” a bespoke, single-operator experience that he calls an LLE, or “single-operator large language experience.” On YouTube, Bryant explained the premise: “Picture this: ChatGPT but, on the other end, it’s just me giving bad advice.” He initially considered the name “BadGPT” but found the domain name too expensive, leading him to use his own initials instead. Since launching, he has manually responded to thousands of user queries.
The project serves as a commentary on the growing societal dependence on synthetic helpers. Bryant is concerned about a phenomenon he calls “cognitive surrender,” a term coined by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School. It describes the tendency for people to blindly trust AI-generated answers even when they are incorrect. Bryant hopes to disrupt this habit, noting that users often stop questioning information once they see a soothing interface and a thinking animation.
“We're now so used to confident, fast and smart-sounding answers from AI that we've largely stopped questioning them,” Bryant said. “Some of us are so far gone that the second we drop into that soothing dark interface, see the little thinking animation and the text coming up letter by letter, critical thinking skills go out the window.” By providing an intentionally inconvenient experience, he hopes to make users more critical of AI. He noted that he wants people to remember the time ChatTJB replied to a tax question with a haiku about crows the next time a standard AI gives them a seemingly reasonable answer. His responses are designed to be slow, cryptic, and occasionally incorrect.
The project has gained traction, with users on Reddit praising the unconventional service. Bryant funded the billboard himself, stating he “dug deep” to pay for it because he wanted to replace one advertisement for a “real AI company” in San Francisco. While he provides answers on topics ranging from imposter syndrome to house paint colors, the high volume of interest has overwhelmed him. The website currently displays a message stating, “Site is overwhelmed and so is average individual lol. We'll be back.”
Looking ahead, Bryant plans to evolve the one-man query engine into a community project. His ultimate goal remains the same: to encourage people to pause and think critically about the information they receive from automated systems.
AI chatbots have become a part of daily life in America. We ask for information, advice, encouragement, therapy, even companionship. In fact, these synthetic helpers have become so ubiquitous that Bryant is worried about our dependence on them.
“No notes. Fantastic,” one person commented on Reddit.
