About Jace Bailey

I’m Jace Bailey, a GHS junior in the new AI course. Aside from my scholarly interest in the comprehension of AI, I enjoy participating in my various hobbies, including hockey, soccer, golf, boating, student council, internships/shadowing at law firms, and much more. I hope to continue these activities in college (hopefully at Cornell University) where I plan on studying philosophy on a pre-law track. In the future, I would like to continue learning about AI as it expands and raises moral, ethical, and legal concerns. 

This week in AI, we shifted to student presentations. We focused on developing our own perspective and presenting our findings on a topic of our choice to the class. We approached various topics from moral to ethical dilemmas that AI raises. These included the impact AI will have on the job market, the consequences of an abundance of AI, and the dominance of companies in the AI industry. While these are the shortlist of a plethora of good presentations, they highlight the overarching nature of AI’s prevalence in society. Through research and collaboration, these presentations aimed to develop our own understanding of the ubiquitous nature of AI in today's world.

Throughout these presentations, several alarming facts were shared. These included the fact a single company (Nvidia) owns upwards of 90% of the market share of the AI industry. This not only concerns the monopolization of the AI industry but also raises serious ethical concerns over our personal data and the potential security risks that may entail. In addition, one presenter discussed how some companies' ambitions may be ahead of our comprehension of the risks of AI, include GrokAI and Elon Musk who plans to have AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) up and running within a year. (AGI is a theoretical form of AI that has the ability to surpass human cognitive abilities across all domains.)

One of the greatest concerns at the moment for everyday Americans is how AI is going to impact the job market. The truth is that there is no certain answer. From the presentations my peers gave to the readings we completed, many came to the conclusion that nothing is for certain in this emergent field. There could be a multitude of different outcomes, from the specialization of jobs to work on AI, AI taking over jobs, and an even balance of both. Either way, AI is likely to absorb jobs, which could ultimately lead to legal and ethical discussions for many companies. As of right now, AI makes a large array of mistakes, from simple mistakes to trusting unreliable sources. What is for certain is that AI is untrustworthy. For the time being, it is unlikely that AI will take over an expansive number (or sector) of jobs in the very near future. 

Our presentations also raised major philosophical questions about how AI should be used, how it should behave, and how it can be developed. Is it truly necessary for AI to have the abilities it does? In the distant future, how will we be able to tell humans and AI apart? In my presentation, I focused on how AI is slowly merging into a human or maybe even super-human nature, abilities, and consciousness, alongside the development of new technologies mimicking human behavior. The only questions that remain are — when? And will we attempt to prevent it? 

Overall, AI is growing at an alarming rate, both in its learning abilities and in its societal application. With these teaching presentations, we pushed each other to think about AI on a much deeper level morally and ethically. The true purpose was to help us reflect on the impact of AI both on society, and on ourselves. With that being said, reflection and questioning your surroundings is more important than ever. As humans and AI “become one”, how do we tell the difference? And does doing so carry a greater risk or reward?