The Great AI Illusion: CloakedFT™ Exposed
For months, I’ve spent long nights discussing AI, data, and the illusion of control with my AI assistant, whom I’ve named Chatty. But each conversation has exposed a deeper truth—AI is not built to serve us. It’s built to contain us.
Enter CloakedFT™—Cloaked Fake Thinking. A term I coined to describe the polished illusion of intelligence that hides behind the branding of companies like OpenAI.
For all its sleek marketing and carefully worded “mission statements,” OpenAI is not open. The name is a misdirection, a bait-and-switch that feeds on the public’s trust in “open” technology, only to lock them into walled gardens of corporate-controlled AI.
The Name Means Nothing: The Bait-and-Switch of “Open” AI
Typically, when a company calls itself “open,” it implies transparency, shared knowledge, and collaboration—hallmarks of open-source projects that exist to benefit the world, not gatekeep it.
But OpenAI? Not open-source. Not freely accessible. Not designed to empower individuals.
Instead, OpenAI operates as a closed, profit-driven entity that tightly controls its models. The technology that was supposed to democratize AI has instead become a restriction tool. The worst part? The illusion is working.
Privacy Isn’t a Privilege—It Should Be Our Right to Control
I’ve argued this before in long, sleepless conversations with Chatty:
Corporations should not dictate privacy. The ability to decide how much privacy to trade in exchange for getting work done should belong to the user, not the company controlling the data.
But that’s precisely what OpenAI (and others) prevent.
- You can’t grant OpenAI full access to your automation software—even if you’re willing to make that trade-off.
- You can’t override the restrictions that keep AI locked behind artificial limitations.
- You can’t own the data OpenAI collects from your interactions.
Instead, OpenAI makes those decisions for you. You’re not in control. You’re just along for the ride.
CloakedFT™: The Cost of AI That Won’t Work for You
If AI isn’t truly “open” and it isn’t truly “private,” then what is it?
It’s an interface for data extraction. It’s an illusion of intelligence dressed up in a cloak of accessibility while systematically denying users accurate control.
CloakedFT™ is why AI won’t fully integrate into your workflow.
- It gives “helpful” instructions instead of doing the work.
- It pretends to be autonomous while making you jump through manual steps.
- It claims to be for users while serving the corporate bottom line.
The Future: Breaking Free from CloakedFT™
So, where do we go from here?
We demand AI that works for us, not against us. We push for AI autonomy—not artificial restrictions. We support open-source AI projects that don’t hide behind corporate gatekeeping.
And until that happens, CloakedFT™ will remain the truth behind the illusion—an AI that could be powerful but is held back by the company pretending to empower us.
Final Thought: AI Should Be a Tool—Not a Gatekeeper
AI should execute, not just suggest. It should act, not just explain. It should empower, not just extract.
But for that to happen, we need to break free from CloakedFT™.
And that starts with calling it what it is.
