We should be cautious of AI
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Artificial intelligence (AI) has increasingly and rapidly been adopted into our daily lives, from our computers to text-to-speech, advertisements, and more controversial mediums, such as art and academic works. What limits will people put on AI? Can we come to a reasonable consensus? Do the conveniences of AI deplete the authenticity of human works such as art and literature?
What has proven difficult regarding AI is an ever-growing discourse with no clear conclusion. There are people who are starkly against all types of AI and those who are all for it— all power to both of you —but most people are somewhere in the middle. In this case, it is up to the individual to set boundaries for themselves. This is the problem with trying to adapt to a technology that is still in development.
But what do we lose when we gain the convenience of AI-produced work? Broadly speaking, we lose diversity of thought, innovation, and impassioned conversation. AI works by mimicking what humans have already produced, whether it be full-length novels, scholarly research, personalized artwork, or even academic essays. By using AI to generate a response to a prompt, the algorithms are simply compiling what has already been done and producing a parody. AI is incapable of producing new ideas the way humans do, and we should not expect it to, especially if we wish to preserve human creativity and innovation.
When it comes to using AI in academic work, college students are wasting a significant amount of time and money using AI to complete homework, which is meant to teach them the skills they will need in their professional lives. Taking shortcuts in college is certainly not anything new, and most students, if not all, have taken them. I would argue, however, that AI and its ability to complete an assignment in seconds— to a lesser degree of accuracy, without any work from the student —is very dangerous.
If you use AI to get your degree and manage throughout college to avoid being caught, how exactly are you qualified for whatever job you are applying for with said degree? Furthermore, using AI to cheat is even easier than cheating off another student, as you do not have to ask for permission, allowing you to cheat at any time for little to no personal work.
If we rely on AI to complete higher-level thinking tasks, we stunt our acquisition of essential skills in critical analysis and sound argument. These skills are in fact imperative to a functioning society of enabled thinkers. We must be able to engage with each other and with media, art, and literature in meaningful ways using rational thought and logic. We should be wary when AI is used as a replacement for this base knowledge and ability instead of a supplemental support.
This isn’t to say AI has no place in our society; it is already ingrained into our search engines, phones, and social media and will only continue to develop. As generative technology improves, AI can certainly be another tool in our box of tricks, but we should be cautious of how much we rely on AI to do the tasks we must be able to do on our own.