May 11, 2023

Editor’s note: When writing this article about the growth of AI (artificial intelligence), writer Levi Hall chose to interview Chat GPT itself. For those who have been living under a rock for the last few months, Chat GPT is a language-based AI program that responds in a rapid, conversational manner to any query. This is Drumbeat’s first-ever interview with AI.  

AI is a growing industry, one which has provoked serious questions about how advancements in this technology will affect culture, education and the economy. AI has made significant jumps in sophistication and innovation in the last few years with programs like Chat GPT-4 (OpenAI), Alpha Go (Google via DeepMind), Watson (IBM) and Sophia (Hanson Robotics) influencing the daily lives of both children and adults. 

In schools, students are already using AI to produce high quality work without the necessity of learning the material or understanding the subject matter. One of the most popular and fastest growing AI’s is Chat GPT, and tech giant Microsoft is making a $10 billion investment into OpenAI as of  the time of writing. If online learning continues to be popular, as seen during the COVID-19 lockdowns, AI has the possibility to affect the development of social skills and problem solving ability in students. 

When asked if it could be used to make artificial intelligence-based work for students, Chat GPT qualified its response by mentioning physical (but not digital) work.  

“Although I cannot create physical artificial work I can assist with resources,” Chat GPT said. “[I can] be integrated into schools for a meaningful learning experience for students.”

The possibility that AI work will be indistinguishable from a person’s is not far in the future. In the realm of media, it is almost certain that the development of this technology can and will be used to spread misinformation and bias depending on how the AI is developed. The possibility of privacy being severely compromised is also likely, as people are already running into problems in that area. 

“[AI] can be used for cyber security attacks, disinformation campaigns, privacy issues and even autonomous weapons,” Chat GPT said. 

Despite the risks, this technology could provide benefits in the classroom, such as better identification of learning disabilities, faster grading, improved teaching materials and the ability to provide a more personalized learning experience for every student. According to elearningindustry.com, 47% of learning management tools will be enabled with AI in the next 3 years and 83% of educators say that a core part of education should be dedicated to technology. AI can also be a cheap future alternative to tutoring, as chatbots are already being developed for one-on-one conversation. 

Humans’ habitual dependency on AI and other related technologies is inevitable as society progressively adopts new ways to educate the younger generation. Whether this technology has a positive impact on education and culture will depend on whoever develops it and what their purpose is. If this technology eventually becomes autonomous, the world may never be the same: Programs like Chat GPT already refer to themselves in the first person. 

“AI is only as powerful and effective as the algorithms and data it is trained on,” Chat GPT said. “Overall, the future of AI is uncertain.”