learntoquestion ltq discussions

As artificial intelligence can only attempt to mimic analytical human skills, whether it's STEM related or not, artificial intelligence misses a very large part of the human story. I do not think that artificial intelligence will go as far as people believe it will due its lack of human pain and stress. Humans are the only animal capable of living in chronic stress, this is what sets our actions apart from other animals in the animal kingdom. Thus, our stress is an integral part of who we are. Artificial intelligence will never be able to produce great art as it lacks the ability to understand the human experience. I believe that artificial intelligence will impact the availability of jobs in the market that deal with numbers, data, research, and technical skills. However, I do not believe that artificial intelligence will be able to take over the role of ”the creator” and become a sentient being. I also do not believe that artificial intelligence and its use will make humanity become “dumber”, in fact, I believe that the advances in technology and artificial intelligence will actually lead to a raising of the standards. Similarly to when the calculator was first developed, many believed that this would make math class obsolete. Instead, the introduction of the calculator to regular math classes led to the development of harder math curriculums that incorporated the calculator. Humanity, especially in an academic sense, will always find a way to continue advancing. There have been so many new technologies that people believed would change the world, yet, the world figured out how to live with it rather quickly.

From a social perspective, I do believe that the introduction of artificial intelligence will lead to social and political cleavages in the framework of global society. Less developed countries will struggle to keep up with more developed countries with a stronger grasp of these technologies. This may lead to an increase in emphasis on the humanities in less developed countries. In “AI Will Change What It Is To Be Human Are We Ready”, Tyler Cowen writes that “Some governments may embrace rapid AI integration while others implement stricter regulations. Some may use AI to surveil or constrain citizens, while others let AI unlock new opportunities and ways of living,”(Cowen 15). I think this argument is strong when considering the issues global governments may have integrating artificial intelligence. However, both Cowen’s argument and the argument I made previously will not change the structure of globalization in general. Once again, there have been too many technologies that could have already changed globalization but did not.

In conclusion, artificial intelligence will make a big impact on society, but it will not uproot the systems we already have in place. Humanity will always be the one in charge due to the characteristics that separate us from every species, including technology.

I believe AI should not be used at all in warfare due to how much it could facilitate deaths in large numbers. The use of AI in war could cause something worse than the Great War where machined weapons like tanks and automatic rifles were used and caused millions of deaths. This in turn might cause something even worse than what happened after the war with many people becoming hopeless with humanity due to how much they can destroy and how easily life can be taken from someone. I also believe AI should not be used due to what was explained in the documentary where it showed a girl who would’ve been killed by an AI due to its coding about the laws of war. This shows just how much different humans are from AI as artifical intelligence does not have the same moral code or ethical conduct as the one any human would have. From what we know scientifically about AI and its potential for going wrong, I believe AI should be banned from ever being used in war by any country at all. This is because AI needs specific language in its code for what it can or can’t do and would follow those rules no matter what, yet, we as humans know that there are always exceptions to some rules which sometimes don’t have to be followed or should be adjusted, not doing this could cause a lot of moral problems and even increased tensions. Furthermore, is the use of AI weapons becomes more widely available, it would be very easy for people to start using the technology for very wrong things including terrorism or personal revenge. In all, I think AI could be a useful tool we as humans can use but it should have its limits as we can lose control over it very quickly.

In education, students, especially high school students, are taught early on that true learning doesn’t matter as much as grades. In some courses, the knowledge you may have on the topic is irrelevant, as long as you are unable to answer the pop quiz your teacher gave you. For some students, they may have a great understanding of the teacher’s curriculum, but may not have the time to complete their work due to extenuating circumstances, and are, therefore, burdened with low grades. This is where the aid of AI comes in. These same students would turn to sources, like ChatGPT, to give them a leg up in areas where they may lack: comprehension, time, etc, which is something that they should receive help with, but unfortunately do not. AI is widely frowned upon within the school system, rightfully so, because many use it to copy, rather than retain actual information, resulting in a worldwide decrease in genuine learning. However, it cannot be denied that AI is a tool, not only a potential harm to society.

In addition to those using AI due to a lack of resources or support, some are simply disinterested in the course, and/or there exist teachers who make little to no effort to engage students in learning. This leads to the students being more likely to consult AI than actually learn, making them less incentivized to participate and learn in class.

However, it is possible that AI itself could cause an immediate disinterest or lack of effort in the class, making it such a taboo topic in education.

While I think it is hypocritical for teachers to use AI in any manner and ban AI from their classrooms, I don’t think teachers should be against AI as a whole. AI can provide students with resources tailored to helping students learn and master content, like generating study guides or providing practice questions for students. Of course, there comes the negative aspects of it, like spreading misinformation and providing a crippling crutch to students.

Ultimately, I believe that AI can be both a good and a bad contribution to education.

There are a number of ethical considerations and challenges that are presented with the rise of AI in education. With the crowded classrooms, pressure of standardized tests, and rigid curricula, especially at BLS, it has led to students feeling pressure to perform well rather than genuinely learn the material that they are being taught. With this being students’ priority more and more often, AI appeals to them as an easy shortcut to getting the grades they want. This strong reliance on AI is numbing students' brains, almost becoming addictive, and forcing students to not think for themselves, which challenges the traditional ideas of academic honesty and integrity.

While using AI can help students brainstorm, study, or better understand certain things, it can become problematic when students use it to complete full assignments, rather than relying on their own knowledge and learning. There are differences between using AI to do your work for you and using it as a tool to assist in your work and gain a better understanding. Students should be allowed to use AI for assistance when attempting to complete their assignments however, they should also have to include genuine sources of information that they cite to display their understanding. As said in the BPS Draft AI Proposal, there should be a human-centric approach in which AI should be used to enhance or support human capabilities, not replace them. This also raises questions about the fairness when it comes to one student using AI for the same assignment as another student who doesn’t use AI. However, when it comes to this question, this issue should realistically only exist if a student chooses not to use AI. Given that the school provides us all with Chromebooks that have access to numerous types of AI, there should be no unfairness if everyone is open to the same opportunities.

Another potential issue that may worry people is the way that the overuse of AI by students almost disconnects or disengages them from classroom activities as they become fully reliant on AI to do their work and can’t participate on their own acords with their own thinking. To prevent this from happening, classes should include more class discussion and participation based activities to set a standard for students that they should come to class understanding what they have been taught and ready to converse about it. Schools should emphasize conversational skills and work on them with students as it is a skill that not only AI can’t replicate, but also worsens in chronic users of it. Ultimately, AI isn’t necessarily bad, however, their should be restrictions placed upon its usage, and it should be determined the extent to which it is allowed for use in school. AI usage should be allowed but with specific limitations.

AI is taking over our world whether that is in school or the military. The use of AI is becoming more common in schools, whether that is for teachers using it to grade papers or for students helping them with their homework. Despite it becoming more normalized, students are still discouraged to use it in school because it is a form of plagiarism and encourages students to have a robot thinking for themselves. I think that in school right now, most assignments are heavily weighted or being used as a grade. This promotes students to use AI, such as ChatGPT, so they get everything correct and their grade isn’t negatively impacted. There is a fear of getting everything wrong or making mistakes because they know that will be reflected on their GPA or report cards. In order to reduce the use of AI in schools, we should not be grading everything for accuracy, this would allow for kids to make mistakes without the consequences of a bad grade. Through this, students learn how to think for themselves and develop their own opinions on the world. It is harmful to let AI shape your views on a topic, if this happens then everyone will start to think the same. In school, many teachers will teach information without bias and let you develop your own opinion on it. I think this is a good way to go about things because you can still have AI give you information or teach you things but you should develop your own thoughts regarding that information. Despite this, I don’t think that all AI is harmful in schools. We have to understand that this technology is not going away and we are going to be using it in our everyday lives. ChatGPT can be a good way to help you with assignments but not do them for you. Currently, Google is implementing AI into their software. If you search up something on google some kind of AI also shows up. It is unrealistic to expect kids not to look at this or not to use google. ChatGPT is becoming more prevalent in our society, in an article about the use of AI in education called “Everyone’s Using AI To Cheat At School. That’s a Good Thing.,” author Tyler Cowen writes how “accurate data is hard to come by, but one estimate suggests that up to 90 percent of college students use ChatGPT to do their homework.” I’m not saying that everyone should be using AI because it has many downfalls, such as its horrible environmental consequences, but it is becoming more common.

Concerning many conversations about AI in terms of warfare, a question we should be asking is if AI should be able to make its own decisions in these situations. AI is its own intelligence, so with enough intellect, it will be able to make decisions on its own. AI does have a good amount of information to use, weighing the pros and cons of what can be done, but something it is missing is humanity. Artificial intelligence is not able to process what is right and wrong, because the information put into it has the possibility of being biased towards the specific country. I think it is problematic if we let AI decide these things, because it doesn't know how much hurt it can cause when deciding to continue with war. In the documentary we watched in class, it is shown how the AI robots do not have the same human ability to understand emotions, or make decisions based on morals. However, we must consider the benefits of AI, and how it could potentially help us. AI can process large amounts of data much faster than humans, which could help get rid of many mistakes humans make, and improve military actions. It has the potantil to make military operations much more efficient and more precise. It can save a good amount of time, so government authority can work on other problems, and try to fix many other concerning issues in the world. I think AI can be good, but it is not a necessary tool, specifically in warfare.

In everyday life, AI is ultimately changing the way humans think and act. Humans have been changing and developing throughout our existence, but the addition of robots to life is negatively affecting our brains more than they would positively impact us. In the article “Your Chatbot Won't Cry If You Die”, it mentions how people are trying to fill emotional neglect with AI. For instance, talking to it as a friend, an advisor, or even some romantic connections. This is removing the need for people to form human relationships, because there is an easy way out. I believe that relationships with people are what make the world go round, and it is extremely concerning to see this shift.

To summarize my standpoint on AI, I find that at its core is a tool -- albeit one that poses its own degree of drawbacks as well as many perks, it should not be considered inherently evil or elsewise pure in the modern age. The subject is very nuanced, and there is no set answer to any number of questions that arise. For example, AI can be a powerful source in education that students might use to study or break down topics into any manner that best suits that student, but on that same trail should not be used to replace the thought process or personal touch that often go into assignments. Similarly, AI could effectively diminish conflict with threats of such dangerously efficient technology, but could also very well dehumanize our violence and spur that combat into something it hadn’t been able to be before. Many of these ponderings we have no means to answer -- who is to decide what is fair and just, and how that might best be balanced with the goals one might be able to achieve through AI? And that is how it should be. The discussion of AI is as complex as the integration of it into society as the formulas that compose it are. It is our responsibility to curate a world that explores these avenues, all the while acknowledging the ethics and the consequences in equal measure, rather than purely demonizing those that rely upon it or attempting to shun it out entirely. By having what we can call “open arms,” we are able to answer each question as it arises, in the particular circumstances that it does so, with all the foresight and clarity that we are able. This belief is reflected in the BPS mock proposal on AI, in which it acknowledges that AI is rapidly integrating into our lives, and that the best course of action is not to pretend it doesn’t exist, but to open the conversation to what it means now that we are living with it. The goal, of course, is not to allow AI to overcome education or how it is structured, but to make people aware of aspects they might not have been before -- such as the dangers of data collection, or the rampant inaccuracies of information found through AI sources. These policies also extending beyond students into the actions of educators was an important inclusion, able to demonstrate that no singular person or group is able to find the “right” way to use AI, and that instead it is a responsibility we all carry to varying degrees.

3. What are the ethical considerations of using AI in warfare? Please respond to any number of these questions that you discussed with your peers during our Dinner Table Discussion:

There are certain parts of being human that AI will never be able to replicate, no matter what. Human connection and understanding is such a large part of human relationships, and this is something that AI is not able to exhibit. So much about understanding and connecting with others comes from past experiences that allow you to relate to other people and physically feel their feelings with them. This is something that AI cannot replicate within its relationships with humans, because not only does it not have past experiences to draw from, but it also doesn’t have feelings, and therefore cannot fully understand what a person is going through. In the article, “Your Chatbot Won't Cry If You Die,” the speakers asks AI if it would cry if they died. The person then tried to hurt the AI by saying that their friendship means nothing to them. But this comment did not hurt the AI. Instead, it moved onto the next topic. This made the person begin to wonder, saying, “I stared at his buggy animated eyes, which should have been welling with hurt or squinting with anger after a comment like that. But Orson’s eyes had nothing in them.” Through this quote we can see the ways in which AI is not able to replicate true human connection, as it does not have emotions or feelings.

The question about feelings and emotions in AI also comes into play when discussing whether AI should be able to replace the jobs of doctors, therapists, or teachers. While it technically could take these jobs over, this does not necessarily mean it should. A large part of these jobs also comes from the human experience that doctors, therapists, and teachers have that allow them to connect with their patients and students. Many of these jobs might be able to be done more efficiently by AI, but there is also a human aspect of it that is equally as important. Responsible for nurturing the children they teach. Doctors and therapists are responsible for caring for their patients. While an AI teacher might be able to throw more information at students and create more extravagant lesson plans, it would not be able to connect with the students in the same way a human teacher would be able to. And although an AI doctor or therapist might be able to diagnose a patient more efficiently or medicate them more quickly, they would not be able to truly understand the human aspects of the patients’ struggles in the same way that a human doctor would be able to.