Archive · 30 Aug 2026
ChatTJB Uses Real People To Challenge Growing Dependence On AI
ChatTJB looks like an ordinary chatbot, but it does not use a computer program to answer questions.
Instead, real people read the questions and write replies.
The project was created by Tucker Bryant, a former Google employee.
He wanted people to think about how much they rely on artificial intelligence.
Because humans need time to respond, users may wait much longer than they would with a normal chatbot.
Some people ask simple questions, while others share personal worries.
More than 100,000 questions have reportedly been sent to the service.
Bryant says it may need sponsorship or a partner to keep operating.
Former Google employee Tucker Bryant created ChatTJB as an art project questioning reliance on AI.
The service resembles a chatbot, but real people read and answer users’ questions.
More than 100,000 prompts were reportedly submitted after a billboard promoted the website in San Francisco.
Over 10,000 people have applied to volunteer, while the waitlist is growing by about 1,000 people daily.
Bryant wants ChatTJB to continue but says it needs an operating partner or sponsorship.
- Who
- Tucker Bryant created ChatTJB, with volunteers helping answer users’ questions.
- What
- ChatTJB is a chatbot-like service in which real people, rather than bots, respond to prompts.
- When
- Bryant launched the project in April; the article does not specify the year.
- Where
- The service operates online, and a billboard promoting it appeared in San Francisco.
- Why
- Bryant created it as an art project to make people consider their dependence on AI and technology.
Human Judgment And Connection
AI Speed And Convenience
How answers are produced
Human Judgment And Connection
ChatTJB emphasizes that a real person has read and considered the user’s question, even if the response is imperfect.
AI Speed And Convenience
Conventional AI chatbots can process and answer requests in seconds, making them more convenient for users.
Reliance On Technology
Human Judgment And Connection
Bryant presents ChatTJB as a way to question whether people are surrendering too much of their thinking to AI.
AI Speed And Convenience
The article describes people using chatbots for subjects ranging from medical advice to relationship tips, reflecting their broad usefulness and availability.
Accuracy And Mistakes
Human Judgment And Connection
ChatTJB frames errors as honest mistakes attributable to the human who made them.
AI Speed And Convenience
Research cited in the article found that AI assistance can improve performance when correct, but incorrect AI advice reduced users’ accuracy by 15 percentage points compared with no AI assistance.
- Creator
- Tucker Bryant, a former Google employee
- Service type
- A human-powered chat service presented in the style of an AI chatbot
- Reported prompts
- More than 100,000 since the billboard went up
- Peak prompt volume
- More than 5,000 prompts per hour at one point
- Volunteer applicants
- More than 10,000 people
- Waitlist growth
- Approximately 1,000 people per day
- Future need
- An operating partner or another form of sponsorship