You have definitely used some type of artificial intelligence for school this week. It could be a simple Google search, autocorrect or a grammar check, but it also could be something more, like an AI chat bot.
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is the capability of computer systems or algorithms to imitate intelligent human behavior. It can talk, write and sound like a human. It is obviously a huge scientific advancement and should be developed to help humanity do more; although, the creation and use of AI is not always ethical.
Every day, a plethora of public websites are being scraped to train AI. Artists’ work is being stolen without their consent and fed to AI to make misshapen, generated artwork. Thousands of writings are stolen and given to AI to learn how to write exactly like a human.
This is a huge intellectual property rights violation, and companies are getting away with it because there aren’t restricting and regulating laws to protect people from having their work stolen, which leads to the biggest irony of all: high-quality writings and artworks done by real people are falsely accused of being AI-generated.
AI is meant to do things humans can’t. Why are we giving it the creative and artistic jobs? Why are we allowing it to create art while humans have to work the dangerous jobs?
Many at BV do not use AI responsibly. They use ChatGPT for things they shouldn’t, from answers to a simple homework assignment or entire essay writing. They don’t care that they aren’t actually learning — they just want to get it done. They don’t care about the detrimental effects on their attention spans and ability to actually learn, or the consequences to their environment.
According to NPR, a ChatGPT question needs nearly 10 times as much electricity as a Google search. That’s 10 times the strain on resources. A powerful AI needs to go somewhere to process the question — enter stage left: giant data centers.
Every AI platform, goes through a data center — a facility that houses networked computer servers that stores and processes large amounts of data. These centers consume immense quantities of electricity to power the servers and freshwater to cool them down. The massive demand from these data centers is causing severe environmental impacts like increased greenhouse gas emissions and water waste.
Data centers aren’t new. They were and still are needed to house and store different websites and servers of the internet. The problem is the sheer amount and size of data centers being built now to house the next generation of AI. The biggest threat to our environment right now is Open AI, which is responsible for ChatGPT.
More Perfect Union’s YouTube video, “I Live 400 Yards From Mark Zuckerberg’s Massive Data Center,” showcases the direct impacts of a huge data center on a homeowner. Increased electricity bills, water and plumbing deterioration from sediment runoff and constant light and sound pollution are just some of the problems they have to deal with.
They didn’t want it in the first place, but they and so many others are affected by these data centers moving in and destroying their areas.
Now, you might think this doesn’t affect you, but it does. More data centers means higher electricity prices for you and more pollutants on the earth. Is using ChatGPT to get the answers for your homework assignment worth it?
AI is now everywhere, and it’s sometimes impossible to ignore, so please, don’t get hypnotized by this frenzy. You need to recognize that you don’t need AI to do your homework for you. It doesn’t make you learn anything, which leads you to not being able develop the critical thinking skills that doing your own work is supposed to do.
So tell me, is using AI really worth the cost?
