Widespread Use of AI as a Crutch in Daily Tasks will have Devastating Effects
Evan Weidl on how the increased use of AI for simple tasks is going to have an extensive and ruinous impact
You can contact Evan @: evan.k.weidl@gmail.com
Since its launch in 2022, ChatGPT has become sort of a Swiss army knife in daily tasks for many people. Whether you need help with a recipe, crafting an email, or you just want to hear a quick fun fact, ChatGPT will be there for you.
While this may make it sound like ChatGPT is purely a marvel of human technological advancement that should be wholly celebrated, the consequences a service like this will have are not only devastating, but very, very subtle in its destruction of human intelligence.
I have concerns about many uses of artificial intelligence, or AI, but my concerns about ChatGPT specifically were born out of observations in my daily life. Countless times in my college lectures and discussions, I would see several students have ChatGPT pulled up on their computer screens, ready to punch in whatever question the professor posed, and copy and paste whatever answer the robot spit back out.
Not only did the students who did this fail to consider multiple sources, they failed to examine the credibility of the one source they relied on. ChatGPT had replaced the ultra-important skill of critical thinking with a process that, while simple and convenient, did a great deal of harm to the credibility of the information.
I came across a Reddit post in the r/ChatGPT subreddit that laid out a first-hand account of the concerning dependency that people can develop for a service like ChatGPT. The user described their increasing reliance on ChatGPT to assist them in every single aspect of their lives, a change that the user described as one that is robbing them of the gratification of doing these things themselves.
The awareness that this user has to recognize this change and the relation between use of ChatGPT and their own mental state is commendable, but it begs the question: how many people are going to fall into the same dependency and never realize the personal repercussions?
The fact is, using AI as a crutch for daily tasks is going to make people think less, which will, in turn, make them dumber and less creative .
As an artist and a friend of many artists, the increased presence of AI in music and visual arts has been extremely frightening, to say the least. A sour taste was left in my mouth last summer when my band asked someone to make a poster for one of our shows, only to be handed back an AI-generated image. This was especially dismaying considering that I reside in Iowa City, which is overflowing with talented artists.
Even more disappointing is when music artists who have the reach and money for high quality visual artists resort to AI. For example, a recently announced tour by the band Mastodon, one of my all-time favorite metal bands, used AI-generated art in the announcement poster.
Between their merchandise, album covers, and posters, Mastodon historically has some of the most stunning art of any band I can name, and the quality of this image was noticeably worse. I do not know whether or not this was a decision of the band themselves or not, but in any case, it is sad to see AI work its way up to this level in the name of saving a couple bucks.
Then, there is the impact AI could have in the daily lives of average people. I think again of the students I saw using AI in their classwork; this is just one example of how AI allows people to cut corners that are seemingly small. But, it doesn’t stop at schoolwork; hell, it barely begins there.
As AI develops to be able to take on more and more tasks, I worry that more and more people will find it difficult to handle consequential tasks on their own. What happens when people become dependent on AI for financial advice? What happens when people experience troubles in their relationships and feel the urge to describe their situations to a robot? What happens when people feel so lonely that the only friend they have is operated by a computer chip? What happens when people experience serious mental health struggles and think they can find the solution in this unreliable way?
More terrifying yet is the potential of AI to help spread misinformation. While the “age of information” has put vast amounts of valuable learning at our fingertips, it has also been plagued with the constant and overwhelming presence of “information” that is misleading, incomplete, and worst of all, deliberately falsified. Pair that with a population that is often unable to tell the difference, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.
For example, AI had a role in spreading misinformation ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The ability of AI to power fake social media accounts and generate fake images and videos didn’t necessarily tip the scales, but it did have an impact on voters. As AI becomes more advanced over time, the impact it could have will grow exponentially.
Just because we have the technology to do something that seems handy does not mean we should integrate into our daily lives without serious regard for the consequences. I mean, for God’s sake, didn’t any of us watch Jurassic Park?
We cannot allow ourselves to overdose on convenience. If we don’t have our sense of humanity, then what the hell do we have at all?