Social Issue of the Week

This Section organizes stories written on social issues impacting the world around us; State, National, and International levels. This could include: politics, human rights, injustices, natural disasters, movements, or more!

Written by Chloe Gadson

Edited by Ella Withers

The Dangers of AI

Do you ever find yourself struggling with an assignment for history or LA so you go to AI for help? You tell yourself it’s not for the answers but to understand how to do it, yet you get stuck in this cycle of going back to AI every time you need an answer. This unhealthy cycle and addiction is a severely common thing that has started since things like ChatGPT had been introduced. People are becoming reliant on technology instead of using their brain to think about these things that they could find out on their own. 

How exactly does AI harm the environment? “According to scientists at the University of California, Riverside, each 100-word AI prompt is estimated to use roughly one bottle of water” (Yañez). For a moment, think about a time you may have used AI. Now, think about the length of that prompt given. If you have used or seen AI, you’ll know that most prompts are long expanding from one paragraph to many.  By just one person, we have lost a bottle of water. Based on information from Amanda Silberling, ChatGPT, which is the most used AI platform in the world aside from cellphone assistants like Siri, receives 2.5 billion prompts in a day .

With the introduction of AI into the world of creative arts, it becomes harder for people to differentiate what's really a project someone worked hard on in comparison to the result of a prompt searched up in seconds. Due to this confusing comparison, many artists are being accused of not truly making the piece they did or losing both their recognition and credibility. AI use limits both creativity and imagination in people as it generates soulless pictures that take away from the true meaning of art. The Oxford Dictionary defines art as “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination” or as “...works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power”. Artificial Intelligence lacks emotion, expression, and humanity therefore “AI art” is not truly art and takes away from the real creations of artists who work hard on their projects.

People love AI for its helpfulness in studying and finding information quickly, but this offers up one question: does the good outweigh the bad? AI, although a helpful resource, creates a number of negative effects on both the environment and the people who use it.  So though it helps you get an answer on a history assignment, think about how much it truly is taking away from you.