The recent takeoff of artificial intelligence (AI) has led to a controversial split in opinions about the ethics of using AI and the ways in which it should be used.
For sophomore Elianna Campbell, her dislike for AI comes from the way it generates art.
“AI art is probably the worst. It’s really disheartening to people who draw, and usually it doesn’t look that good. It’s just terrible. It ruins people’s artistic confidence because they don’t realize it’s AI,” she said.
Sophomore Liya Sardar shares a similar viewpoint about artistic value.
“It’s very unethical, especially when it’s used for artistic purposes. Because [of] the way that this stuff is acquired by scalping from artists all over, and that’s just not right because it’s taking the images without consent,” Sardar said.
Sardar says that the way in which AI obtains its content is the main issue with how it functions.
“Using AI is proven to decrease your ability to think critically. When you use it, it actually does more harm than good. The actual benefits are not worth what you are damaging.”
According to the Pew Research Center, 73% of U.S. adults are willing to use AI for a simple everyday task, while only 27% say they would not use AI at all. 47% say they have been seeing a lot of media centered on the idea of AI and its usage. One third of adults under 30 claim to interact with AI multiple times a day.
“It will isolate you from people. You’re losing a huge part of life, which is interacting with others, and replacing it with something that’s not real, which can be really damaging to your mental health,” Sardar said.
With the recent additions of AI being used for therapeutic purposes, more speculation on how it should be utilized is arising.
“I think it’s really unsafe, because something that AI is designed to do is to keep you engaged, and so even if you look at how other people have had their experiences with AI, it will constantly validate you,” said Sardar.
She explains that although she knows many people who use AI as a source of comfort and oftentimes treat it as though it were a human, she thinks it is weird.
“It’s really strange and a little bit dystopian, just because it’s not a real person, and it doesn’t feel anything for you at all. It’s just using you for engagement.”
Crockett seems to be more concerned with the mental health aspects of AI.
“I think AI would just agree with you and focus on the negative side. It can really drain your mental health just talking to an AI bot and being online all the time. AI should not be your best friend,” Hailey Crockett, a sophomore, agrees.
Crockett claims she has had to use AI for her classes in the past, but other than that, has not used it.
“I have used it on past assignments, like in Mr. Risinger’s class last year, our final was based on AI. We used ChatGPT to create a summit. We made up a bill, and the ChatGPT summit made us fail or pass.”
The use of AI in classrooms has become more common and has made some students distraught, more so than the teachers.
“The addiction is crazy. People are just really stupid, or the people who are teaching them are equally as stupid,” said Campbell.
In the future, students seem to think AI could go in many different directions.
“I think AI is starting to take a big part of our society already. Who knows? I think it’s going to be a big part of our future,” Crockett said.
“There is a huge decline in people who are actively supporting AI, and the people who are having pretty weak arguments,” Sardar said.
