By Joshua Robison / The Jambar
Artificial intelligence — a buzzword in academia and the art community. It’s the hottest debated topic all over the world right now with people having an opinion on it.
I, for one, am what some would call a laggard to the new technology. In my mind, there is no room in our society for the use of AI, and the negative outcomes of using it far exceed the positives.
Not only does AI lie, cheat and steal, it also omits credit from the countless artists and scholars who put their lives’ work into their craft, along with chipping away at what makes people human.
I am a full believer that, for whatever reason humanity was conjured into existence, we are meant to create. Whether that be through art, literature and the connections we have with each other, humanity is here to create.
This makes me think of a quote from “Dead Poets Society,” delivered by the character John Keating, played by actor Robin Williams.
“We do not read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race, and the human race is filled with passion,” Williams said in the film.
As a journalist and amateur filmmaker, my entire identity is centered on my passion to create. Thinking about what I am going to create is why I get up in the morning.
It saddens me that too many people are willing to roll over and say, “AI is the future.” My question for them is, “Why?” Why does AI have to be the future? Why are we so submissive to these AI corporations that are doing, what I believe, the best to take away every part of humanity we have left?
This is no overreaction. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI in an interview from 2015, said that the future of AI will lead to the end of the world.
“AI will probably most likely, sort of, lead to the end of the world, but in the meantime there will be great companies created with serious machine learning,” Altman said in the interview.
Just think about that. One of the frontrunners of AI advancement said that it will lead to the end of the world. Anyone with the slightest amount of sense can agree that that sounds terrifying.
My question for you is, is this the future we really want? Do we want the future generations to be nothing more than a population of consumers to a mind-numbing service such as OpenAI and all of the others?
I don’t, and you shouldn’t either. I want the future to be prosperous for all that come after us. I want my children to be free to create and to be dependent on themselves, not a machine that does not understand emotion, accountability or context.
There are more reasons why AI has no room in our world, but that is for another time. Next time you use an AI chatbot or service, take the time to consider, is this seemingly harmless action going to lead to a world that will no longer be worth living in?