It is no secret that AI has become deeply woven into our everyday lives. From social media platforms, using them to reconfigure and moderate algorithms, to students of all ages using them to complete assignments, to asking a chatbot to help you figure out what to wear today—it’s become unavoidable.
The list of reasons why you should or shouldn’t use AI goes on and on forever. Most frequent arguments include that it’s a universal and useful tool, while others raise concerns about security risks or negative environmental effects. It’s just one big convoluted argument of how far we could drag applied ethics until we lose its grip.
I find AI everywhere I go. I see it on my social media feeds, I see my peers, friends, and family using AI all the time, and it makes me wonder: have we lost the yearning to learn in a human-centred fashion?
I try my best not to push my thoughts on AI onto others or make anyone feel bad about it, as I do see how it can be a useful tool.
At the same time, after seeing so many students use AI, I’m starting to realize we may be losing the concept that makes university worthwhile.
We aren’t in school to just pass classes and get degrees; we are here to learn and apply the skills we gain in our careers.
Online, I’ve seen adults who have learned and worked long before the emergence of AI, use it to write emails or even come up with text messages, as if we do not already hold the capacity to create or fulfill tasks to the same degree.
It’s starting to become very disheartening knowing how easily people rely on AI to create, learn, and interact, instead of finding genuine enrichment in doing it themselves.
From a creative aspect, AI generates images and texts from ideas, artwork, and research projects that already exist.
Everything that it has learned has come from humans, so why do we feel the need to include a non-human third party into something we’ve been doing for as long as time itself?
For me, the concept of using a chatbot for any personal aspect of life is beyond me.
I can accept it as a helpful academic or professional tool with limitations, of course, but AI may also be killing our creativity and willingness to gather any kind of knowledge ourselves, and some may not even fully realize it yet.