To state it quite plainly, AI is bad. To preface this opinion, I will state that I hate AI, I have never used AI in my entire life, and I will avidly go out of my way to not use it.
Recently I’ve noticed a heavy reliance on AI, not only from a student perspective, but also from teachers. In class, entire lectures will be created by AI, and you can tell. Sometimes it will be a presentation, and instead of teacher review, it is AI. That’s not learning, nor is it teaching.
“I can see lots of benefits to AI, from the teacher standpoint, as long as it doesn’t become a crutch,” DRHS English teacher Jessica Koehler said. “I’m starting to learn when to use it, but what I can’t stand about it is the environmental impacts.”
Students often don’t even try to learn or do their own work any longer. They have ChatGPT open on one tab and their three page essay on the other. But you can tell because AI is simply bad and often inaccurate. It relies on bad information. “AI also often generates misinformation. Oftentimes, the answers produced by AI will be a mixture of truth and fiction,” University of Maryland said.
Last year there were many reports stating that United States math and reading scores have been dropping to concerning levels. Students coming out of the pandemic, faced with learning gaps, lean on AI. “Scores have slipped to their lowest level in decades,” Peggy Carr, the commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, said in an interview with NPR News.
Not only does AI have a direct correlation with the concerningly low test scores, but it also has a negative effect on the environment. The constant sifting through and producing of information produces electronic waste. AI is a large consumer of water, which is becoming increasingly scarce in many places. Not only does the production of AI rely on water, but also rare minerals that are unethically sourced. AI also uses mass amounts of electricity, helping to add to the greenhouse gases. “There is still much we don’t know about the environmental impact of AI but some of the data we do have is concerning,” Golestan (Sally) Radwan, the Chief Digital Officer of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said in an interview with the UN Environment Programme.
It has gotten to the point that AI is a part of our everyday lives. Many Americans daily wear Apple watches, use their iPhones, and use music streaming services. However, what most of the Americans wearing and using these services do not realize is how AI generates all of this.
“It’s scary that people are no longer relying on their brains. People are starting to lose their free will and their ability to think for themselves,” DRHS senior Aleshai Ramirez, said. “Unfortunately, I think that AI will start to become even more prevalent in the future, and the impacts are already showing,”
I am not condemning the use of artificial intelligence, but I am trying to raise awareness of just how much it presents itself in the daily lives of people. The beginning of trying to lower the amount of AI used in your life starts with recognizing how often you use it. Once you become aware, then you can begin to lower the presence it has in your life.
