OPINION: I Didn't Use AI To Write This

I’m sitting in class, and my math teacher announces that we have a test on Friday. I look around and see my classmates immediately jump on ChatGPT for answers and explanations. Instead of just asking the teacher for help, the students turn to an AI bot for help.

Students everywhere are using ChatGPT and AI tools to write essays and solve math problems. Using AI for schoolwork is only scratching the surface – I believe that AI has affected society in several negative ways.

But first, we must acknowledge that there are some cool things AI can do.

Just from my family, my dad uses it for personal advice and to help with finances.  My mom uses it to create images for the blogs she writes. My brothers get a lot of their entertainment from AI videos on social media. I use AI to help with schoolwork and to structure and clean up writing. I don’t see harm in the ways my family uses AI. However, the benefits don’t come without risks.  

AI is taking over many aspects of human life.  Gen Z are frequent users of AI and have started relying on AI to support their daily lives. It is used to help people with school work, mental health support, and even to create images. 

While on the surface, these might seem like benefits, I believe the harm outweighs the good.  AI takes away student creativity, poses potential environmental challenges, and can cause harm to teenagers.

I believe AI is making students lazier and reducing their attention spans.  I think that using it to replace the art of humans is disrespectful and unnecessary.  Because of AI, there are many jobs at risk of disappearing and being taken over. 

According to a Forrester AI Impact Report, the US will lose 6% of jobs by 2030.  Drivers, fast food workers and data entry jobs are all at risk. 

The impact on the environment must also be considered.  Just one AI data center can use up to 5 million gallons of water a day to cool the technology, according to a report by the Environmental and Energy Study Group. There are so many people on earth who have to go every day without water, and instead of choosing to help those people we choose to keep making AI replace humans. 

Some high schoolers use AI to create explicit images, and that can affect their peers' mental well-being and the way they feel.

Virtual reality is also another form of AI that teenagers get addicted to. Many teens see it as an escape. While teens may need that, they soon can’t function without it and have to use their VR all the time. 

While there are certainly benefits to AI, I think the problems of AI outweigh the good. AI replaces forms of creativity, is bad for the Earth and has been used to harm teenagers. I think that society would be much better off without AI.