As a senior with both of my majors — English and Communication — in the humanities, about to enter the workplace, I keep getting asked if I feel threatened by artificial intelligence. My answer? No, I am not. Why? Because no matter how advanced Artificial Intelligence gets, it can never truly replace me.
ChatGPT was released to the public around November of 2022, which was around the middle of my first semester of college. In my four years at SLU, I have not consulted an AI chatbot for anything. I understand AI is inevitable to encounter in our navigation maps and Google searches, but I skip right past AI summaries and do my best to avoid it when I can.
I avoid AI not because I feel threatened by it, but because I consider myself better than it, even above it. I sound full of myself, right? Regardless, I have very good reasons for why I do not regret rejecting AI. Hopefully reasons that make you reconsider usage or empower non-usage of it.
No. 1: Hard work is good for you.
Every paper, every article and every word I have written is from me. I will never regret spending hours grueling over a paper or topic because working hard is an important, good thing for our development as people and lifelong learners. Working hard is what helped me receive well-deserved honors and accolades, even important job connections. I could not imagine a life where efficiency matters more than passion, hard work and connection; where getting a basic, often unreliable result is more gratifying than a well-written piece that is always well worth the time and effort. Effort pays off.
No. 2: Even bad writing has meaning.
Our works are a reflection of us. I know this because I can look at every paper I have ever written, even the “bad” ones, and track my growth as both a writer and student. Every paper, down to the topic, is a choice culminating from my lived experience and education. My papers from freshman year were obviously not great because I still had much to learn. Even still, I admire the “bad” writing of 18-year-old me because it was never meant to be good. As much as I want to be the best at everything, realistically, we all start off needing improvement. My worst writing, the papers I cringe thinking about, hold the most meaning.
No. 3: You do not need AI.
Everything that AI can do, I can do too. I can admit that it has its applications as a useful tool. But, it should never be able to be anything more than that. It is a water-guzzling waste of space with the backing of corporations, not people. If it were not for students or the lifetimes of contributions to the arts and humanities that trained AI, AI could not do your work in the first place. I know I am capable of doing it because generations have done it before me.
I am not rejecting evolution in favor of tradition. I am just a stern believer in the philosophy “with great power comes great responsibility.” Technology is an asset that should be developed and used responsibly. AI’s development is not responsible nor a good use of resources and power. I can guzzle water and also guarantee work is done right, with every minute detail checked and reasonable and human-made. I can also efficiently, and with precision, complete the work of an entire team. I have done it time and time again when saddled down by a group of low-effort AI users. I am so reliable, in fact, that those same AI users turned to me rather than AI to complete the project.
No. 4: Look at all I have done without it.
How many college students nowadays can say that everything from brainstorming topics to the completion of a project was all them? Not many. Everything I have received, I worked hard to earn. I am one of the few students who can say I actually earned my diploma, my name on the dean’s list every semester and near-perfect grades from pure grit and integrity. I have been and always will be a better asset, better employee, better person and better contributor to the human race than AI could ever hope to replicate. AI might be more efficient than me, but I will always be better.