Artificial intelligence is a tool that has been around for quite some time, but has progressed into something much bigger. We once knew AI as a program which was as simple as online search engines, programs used for military services, and a tool being developed to make simple responses to common questions. Now AI has been developed and integrated into almost every online service, social network, and is now used to replace human interaction. Due to AI minimizing the amount of human interaction we have, it is surprising to see how reliant we have become on something that creates such an impersonal experience. AI has become a source that is relied on very heavily by individuals of all backgrounds and age groups. Some use AI as a tool for school or work, daily queries, language understanding, and some go as far as finding connection or a feeling of companionship through its responsive nature. Though AI creates a much faster and more simplified experience in many conversations and situations, many aspects of AI are not often recognized and need to be considered when we utilize its service.
Some very important details of AI that I was not aware of are facts that I believe many users should understand before they continue or begin their use with AI. AI services are portrayed as a fast, efficient, and reliable tool to answer questions, provide answers, and assist in other daily actions. Due to AI being seen as a support method and a simplified answer to our problems, it can create a more negative effect on overly reliant people. For example, some students use AI services to a very extreme extent, such as to answer mass amounts of homework questions, write essays, modify writing and grammar, and so much more. Without understanding the repercussions of misuse of AI, students can find themselves in trouble. AI generators are very easily recognized by many educators and school services. These detecting services can result in students being under review for plagiarism. Many individuals don’t realize that even though it may not be another person who wrote it, it is still considered a copy of someone else’s work as there is a lot of information taken directly from many other outer resources.
AI does not only provide negative aspects by overreliance and its repercussions, but it also has a very negative effect on our environment. The amount of energy that AI sources to provide the services that we all demand, has gotten to a very negative extreme. To fuel the reliance that we have created with AI in a day, these programs require massive amounts of global energy use as well as 10’s of thousands of liters of water. The impact that this absorption has on the planet is highly impacting and contributing to the global climate crisis that we are dealing with.
To be aware of the impacts that AI has, both negative and positive, is very important as it has become such a large part of our daily experience. Understanding the ways it can assist you and how to use its services properly can be an amazing tool to use as an individual. In contrast, it is also important to understand the negative effects that the overuse of its services entail. Keeping in mind the environmental impacts, reliability you have created, and incorrect or copywritten information it can provide you is important to be cognizant of as a user of these programs. I believe that this is a program we will all continue to co-exist with for the foreseeable future, meaning it is important we learn how to be careful when using.
