THE USES OF AI - IS IT WORTH IT?

   More and more as the technology develops and time goes on the world has begun to find new uses for Artificial Intelligence (AI). From AI art and actors to moving towards complete industrial automation, there are a variety of ways in which AI can be utilized. However, there is an undeniable underlying impact that this technology has on the environment, and society as a whole. The real question is whether or not this impact is worth it for the services it provides.

   Artificial Intelligence is defined as a “specific branch of computer science concerned with replicating the thought process of decision making ability of humans through computer algorithms,” as said by Tableau.com. Some types of AI carry out simple tasks, such as generating an image, while other kinds adjust their own algorithms as they “learn” until they can beat human experts in their given fields. This technology is not new by any means, having been around since the 1950s, but has only recently risen in popularity due to its increasing accessibility to the general public.

   One of the ways AI is used involves online banking. Many major banks will use the help of AI in their fraud detection and prevention systems, analyzing thousands of transactions and recognizing typical patterns so it can flag suspicious activity. The program will then automatically cancel any suspicious transactions and notify the account holder to verify the purchase.

   Artificial Intelligence is also a tool used in healthcare. AI can be used in early diagnosis, analyzing a patient's data to predict the likelihood of a patient developing a disease. Preventative care can then begin if necessary. AI can also use analytics to guess how a specific disease may spread over the course of time or over a specific region. It can also find new applications for drugs as well as potentially harmful interactions between separate drugs.

   Another common use for AI is the subject of data science and analytics, most often used in predictive analytics and data analysis. For example, the world bee project uses Artificial Intelligence to gather data that is then analyzed to identify patterns and trends that could signal for early intervention to help more bees survive. These same analytic algorithms are also used for other animal conservation efforts. Some conservation groups even use unmanned vehicles to catch poachers and locate animals. In general, the massive data analysis done by AI makes information more easily and more quickly available for use.

   AI can also be used to assist those with disabilities. A company used AI to create     

StorySign, a free mobile app that helps deaf children learn to read by translating text into sign language. The same company also created Track.Ai, a device that identifies sight disorders so treatment can begin before the disorder leads to blindness. Another app translates emotions into short and simple sounds, helping blind people visualize the emotion of a person they are interacting with.

   Artificial intelligence is also of course used by the general public for entertainment. With chatbots such as ChatGPT, one can hold a conversation with an entirely artificial bot that responds based on algorithmic data it collects from users as well as the internet as a whole. Some use it for information, while others may legitimately speak with the bot like it is a human friend of theirs. Anyone on the internet can also go to an AI prompt generator and type in a concept, receiving back an image or video that visualizes the prompt the user attempted to actualize. This comes with varying success and quality, but the more the AI learns the better it has become at imitating the prompts it receives.

   All of these vast uses come with a price, that being the massive impact AI has been shown to have on the environment, as well as possibly stealing jobs from artists and making society as a whole lazier and think less by themselves. The reason Artificial Intelligence has any impact on the environment is due to the data centers recruited to keep AI running functionally. These data centers produce a massive amount of electric waste, as well as use massive amounts of an already dwindling water supply to cool down equipment.

   Data centers also rely on critical minerals and rare elements, often mined unsustainably. Massive amounts of electricity is also used to power these data centers, causing humongous amounts of planet warming greenhouse gases to be emitted. A 2 kg computer needs 800 kg of raw material to be created, and electronic waste creates hazardous materials like mercury and lead. Not only is water utilized massively in construction, but it also continues to be used to cool electrical components. Across the globe, according to UNEP.org, AI infrastructure such as data centers consume six times more water than Denmark, a country of 6 million, while a quarter of humanity lacks access to clean water.

   The electricity used to power electronics that run AI tech is most often made by burning fossil fuels, which makes greenhouse gases. A single request made to ChatGPT consumes 10 times the electricity of a single google search. It is estimated that AI data centers could make up near 35 percent of the country’s energy use by 2026. There are 11,800 operational data centers globally, 24 residing in North Dakota. The most recent AI data center being built is the Polaris Forge 2 near Fargo, ND. 

Construction begins late 2025 and expects to become operational by 2027.

   AI not only impacts the environment, but society as well. Actors and animators have begun to fear for their jobs as companies develop bots that can replicate their work for cheaper and under less time. Though still mostly clear when something is AI generated, as the AI learns it has become increasingly more difficult to decipher if what one is seeing was created with the touch of a human or a machine. Even music artists are afraid to lose their career to AI, recently a band called “The Velvet Sundown” gaining massive streaming popularity before being revealed as an AI project.

   AI has also impacted people’s ability to think and do things for themselves. Many students in high school and even college level admit to using AI to do a majority of their schoolwork for them. Though convenient, it means nothing is actually being learned and the material is not actually being absorbed. This makes it difficult to pass tests, and also means one gains no skills or knowledge like they are meant to while attending school. It can be helpful when one needs a step by step guide through a math problem, or even to develop an idea of how to construct an English paper. However, relying on it entirely by mindlessly copying and pasting is extremely harmful in terms of learning anything at all. Perhaps, though annoying, it is better for a person to just write the paper or do the math problem themselves. 

   Artificial intelligence has many uses, having the ability to aid in saving lives or conserving wildlife, but it is also quite destructive and harmful to the world at the same time. Whether or not the things gained from using AI is worth the ever developing problems it causes is up for debate. One thing, however, is for sure. AI is growing at a rapid rate, and it is likely both the benefits and downsides will only continue to intensify from here.