Just as many things are, the stance for and against AI is very divided. On the affirmative side, many people defend AI because of the power it has in innovation and efficiency. On the other hand, those on the negative side back their claim with an idea of fear for careers, potential of harmful practice, and ethicality. The purpose and sake of this blog is to not push towards one side or the other, but to provide central claims for each side for you, the reader, to decide!
Affirmative: AI’s contributions are beneficial
AI is best known for its ability to perform prompted tasks in the blink of an eye. Popular AI models such as ChatGPT take in user prompts and use a wide array of data and structure to create realistic speech. ChatGPT and other AI available to the public are very popular for helping solve problems, brainstorming, and research support. Essentially many of these AI work as a virtual assistant that helps in small tasks the user either cannot or does not want to do.
This fast at the click of a button support has the potential to greatly advance human innovation. Along with speed, AI eliminates human error . The possibility for mistakes are endless, but with AI they are drastically stricken down. Additionally, in the scenario that the AI does make a mistake, pointing out the mistake to the AI only further grows its potential. AI grows its ability in every mistake.
Also, highly repetitive tasks that require low critical thinking but tedious amounts of effort can be done in a matter of seconds. What before would take a whole team, could be done by on AI model, allowing for the reallocation of resources and money to new advancements.
As it stands, AI is an impressive tool that is pushing the boundaries of what humans can do and how fast they can!
Negative: AI’s contributions are a danger
It is undeniable that the speed and capabilities of Artificial Intelligence are impressive, but at what cost do they come with? Many in the affirmative describe the greatness of an AI being able to do what would take teams of people, in a matter of seconds. However, the truth that shines through from that statement is that AI is replacing human jobs. Jobs that support families and jobs needed for the economy. Additionally, these jobs are not being taken proportionately from all levels of business. The jobs most displaced by AI are the entry-level positions that typically have the lowest compensation and are populated by people in the lower class. AI essentially is stealing jobs from the most vulnerable communities, for the sake of corporate economic growth.
Reliable news is already hard to come by, but AI is only making the problem worse. Dozens of AI models are dedicated to making new images, created from millions of real life photos. These images have exponentially grown in their accuracy, at times being indistinguishable from a real photo. This introduction of new “fake” images simply from assigned prompts, gives too much opportunity for devious actions and the spread of false news .
Lastly, the power a user holds with various AI is far too powerful and much too grand to not be used unethically. Already in many schools, there is an epidemic of students using AI models to solve and do assignments for them. With each use of AI in a school setting, there is further deterioration in education. Originality and ownership of hard work can soon become a fossil of the time before AI if not unchecked.