AI is the inevitable downfall of our future society. With the rise of AI, people can now use the platform for anything – students, researchers, teachers, business workers, computer programmers and more have all used AI or have thought about it at least once. According to “campus technology”, a survey revealed that 86% of all students have used AI in their studies.
While AI has many advantages, there are also many disadvantages to having such easy access to this technology. The line determining whether AI is beneficial to our society or not still remains unknown, as well as the general public’s knowledge of this upcoming technology.
AI or artificial intelligence has been around for decades, the first use of the word “artificial” began in 1921 when a Czech science fiction play introduced “artificial people”, better known as robots. As technology developed, so did AI with the iteration of it popping up around the 1980’s.
The history of artificial intelligence does not explain what it is or how it works though. Artificial intelligence, as described by Tableau, is “a broad branch of computer science concerned with creating machines that can learn, make decisions, and perform tasks to a human-like level.” (tableau.com). In other words, artificial intelligence is a computer science that focuses on making machines that can operate on a human level, more specifically to give them the ability to think and solve problems just as a human would.
The use of artificial intelligence can be seen everywhere, businesses may use it to receive analytics of their growing company, computer scientists may use it to refer to their work to ensure there are no errors, or more commonly, can be used to detect errors and provide answers to almost anything.
This is where the main issue lies. Because AI can give answers to many questions, many students from middle schools, high schools, and universities have been caught using AI in their assignments, homework, and tests. As previously stated, 86% of all students have used it at least once. The problem which some may be unable to understand is, with the widespread use of artificial intelligence people are not allowing themselves to compose and express their thoughts and thinking abilities. This has been a rise of concern among teachers and the overall population.
There are many concerns with AI, some people are worried that AI can overtake their jobs, or that it will ruin how we view and perceive artwork. Some sources such as pausea.info claim that stopping AI is a big enough concern as pandemics or wars. Throughout history, many people have been against modern technology or they simply did not want to accept it in their daily lives.
According to the “tech adoption curve”, which is a graph demonstrating the accurate relationship between new technology and the marketplace, it can be quickly understood that AI will inevitably be involved in daily life soon enough.
This does not mean that AI is completely harmful or something to be wary of. Many people, including teachers, believe that AI is not something to be scared of and can have some beneficial uses. For example, some may argue that with the use of AI, people will have more time to do the things they enjoy because AI will be doing most of the work or will be able to explain things in a better way so that they can understand whatever it is that they are learning.
Computer scientists are able to figure out issues with coding within a matter of seconds and students are able to ask more in-depth questions about a subject they may not entirely understand. While these matters are unstable in terms of the benefits of using AI, using something as powerful as this technology can be hard to balance. Instead of using it in a manner that will benefit them, students may use AI to do their homework for them instead of using it to help them. The same concept applies to everyone who may use AI. The line between using and abusing the power of AI remains unclear for many individuals involved in it.
Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool that can be used for the greater good or could be harmful to those who are unaware of how to use it. Either way, the more people use AI the closer everything will be to becoming a dystopian society. A place where people are unable to think for themselves or concern themselves with matters that are not relevant to daily life. The future of AI remains unspecified, as of now it has proven to bring more harm than good with a rise of cheating in school and the gradual replacement of some people and their jobs. Whether you view artificial intelligence as a good or bad thing, as time progresses so will its involvement. If you use AI, the next time you use it think about whether you are using it to truly benefit yourself and your work.
