NRHS Students and Teachers Share Opinions on AI

By William Suarez

When you hear the word AI, lots of things may come to mind. Some may think of robots, others may think of Chat GPT, and others may not know what it is at all. What exactly is AI, and why do we hear so much about it? Artificial Intelligence, most commonly known as AI, is the science of making machines that can think like a human would. For example, Chat GPT uses an algorithm (a set of instructions or rules) to find and recognize keywords to find out what its job is. Once it does, it creates an appropriate response based on existing information. In daily life, AI is also used to analyze fitness patterns in fitness trackers, answer questions on shopping websites, provide music playlist recommendations, recommend products based on previous purchases, detect spam emails, and alert homeowners of suspicious security camera activity. 

Despite its growing presence, only about 30% of American adults can recognize these examples in day-to-day life (Pew Research Center). English teacher, Mr. Melamed said, ”I don’t know much about it, other than that people are using it. Now, there are a lot of ways that you can use it irresponsibly, like if you have to write a paper and you just use AI to write your paper and it just does it for you. That is not responsible.” As well as this, Mr. Dower, a 9th grade Global History teacher, said, “It’s like another tool. It can be a good thing, hopefully, if it’s used correctly.”

According to the Pew Research Center, as of now, more than 50% of the American population has a concerned viewpoint on AI, compared to the small 10% who have a positive or excited viewpoint on AI. “It’s cool; I get to see if my homework is right,” said Daniel Schienvar, a 9th grader. Mrs. Leon, a 9th grade Social Studies teacher at NRHS, also commented on AI: ”AI has a lot of benefits, can be used for a lot of good things, on the contrary, can be used for a lot of bad things.” AI has helped reshape hundreds of industries and fields as its popularity grows, despite harsh or kind viewpoints expressed by others, bringing forth a new age of technology for society. “I think it’s like another tool, like some people say it shows something bad. I think it’s just another tool to use for, like, whatever we want to do. I think it’s something good; we should work more on it,” commented Sebastian Diaz Raitz, a 12th grader.