Over the past few years, we have seen a surge in artificial intelligence usage across the world, particularly in the United States. There were more apps with AI filters, and AI answering programs, and the list only became larger and more concerning. Too many people seem to be “adapting” to life with AI or trying to make the most of it–I think we should refuse that.
Before we get into the specifics of the dangers of AI, I want to establish my distaste for AI being used in artistic fields. Art is meant to be a source of expression and creativity, which is impossible to come from artificial machines trained on preexisting material. The visuals are heartless, the writing lacks emotion, and the music sounds robotic and unoriginal. Using AI to create things that real artists put a lot of time and care into is a cheap cop-out for putting in real effort. Not everyone needs to make “good” art–the point is that you spent time and energy on something, enjoyed the process, and can be proud of what you created.
More recently, social media apps have increased AI usage, allowing things posted on them to be used to train AI models. Many artists began taking more precautions when posting, adding filters that make data stealing more difficult or impossible for AI programs to achieve. Plenty of artists outright left certain platforms like Instagram, since there seems to be no way to effectively turn off AI’s access to one’s content.
AI being trained off of existing work means that these programs are stealing other people’s time, labor, and creativity. All the talk of AI “art” is inaccurately labeled because there is no effort going into these AI-generated images outside of someone typing in a prompt to one of the many AI programs. Most of the time, we can tell when images are AI-generated because they have an uncanny valley feel–fingers and limbs on humans tend to be of the wrong amounts, or objects blend together. Unfortunately, AI technology is progressing quickly, so it’s becoming harder to discern what’s real or fake, especially when it comes to AI-generated photography.
AI-generated photos and videos are using people’s likenesses without their consent, which was brought up back with the Screen Actors’ Guild strikes as something in need of more regulation. Quite recently, songwriter FKA Twigs went to court over “deepfakes” of her image that were being spread across the internet in a push for government regulation for AI usage. Several other celebrities, particularly female celebrities, have spoken out against AI usage due to people using it to create explicit content with AI-generated images and videos of them. It’s bad enough when celebrities have nude images shared of them without their consent, let alone AI-generated content made completely without their participation.
Since AI has to be trained with information provided by people, there are biases that are ingrained in AI models, specifically racial biases. AI that is used in predictive policing technology has encouraged over-policing of certain neighborhoods and areas that have historically been targeted due to larger marginalized communities (OHCHR, 2024). Healthcare and educational tools that utilize AI have also been found to have racial biases and stereotyping behaviors.
In addition, AI is terrible for the environment, as it uses incredibly large amounts of energy for what many perceive to be small tasks. The World Economic Forum found that “generative AI systems might already use around 33 times more energy to complete a task than task-specific software would.” This is more geared towards AI use in search engines, such as Google’s newer AI Overview feature. The World Economic Forum also estimated that training certain AI models use the equivalent of a year’s worth of energy consumption for 130 homes. Data processing centers for AI technology are using up massive amounts of water, too. In an article for Futurism, author Noor Al-Sibai cites, “the researchers [from University of California Riverside and the University of Texas Arlington] found that just in training GPT-3 alone, Microsoft, which is partnered with OpenAI, consumed a whopping 185,000 gallons of water — which is, per their calculations, equivalent to the amount of water needed to cool a nuclear reactor” (2023). AI is quickly becoming a major environmental concern with little work towards preventing its damage.
Despite all of the dangers of AI and its usage, the biggest problem seems to me that it’s being used incorrectly. AI does not need to be a part of every career field and technology–I think it should stay out of a lot of them. However, there are very practical uses for AI within the medical and technological fields. In tech, AI is able to cut down on tedious and repetitive tasks for people, providing more efficient use of time for many workers (DataCamp, 2024). When it comes to medicine, AI can be used to detect diseases like cancer in previously undetectable stages, allowing for earlier preventative measures (BCRF, 2024).
I refuse to agree with the notion that having AI so steeped in our culture is what it is, that we have to just get used to it. I will forever be of the mindset that we don’t have to accept that things are bad and won’t go away because otherwise, we will never see real change. AI has some genuine benefits in certain fields, but overall, we need to move away from using it. Large corporations will, of course, be the most difficult to change, but you can help by stopping your own use of AI programs. Stop using ChatGPT and similar programs, stop using the AI filters and photo generators, don’t rely on Google’s AI overviews (because they’re usually incorrect or lacking depth anyway), and be on the lookout for AI images to avoid spreading them.
Recognize that you’re capable of the effort to create and research without the help of an AI program and that you’re better than it. Don’t give in because it’s easier.
Written by Alec Conwell
Photography by Mark Bluemle
Styling, Movement Director: K Pereira
Talent: Will Dooley
Sources:
AI and energy: Will AI reduce emissions or increase demand? (2024, September 10). World Economic Forum. Retrieved November 8, 2024, from https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/07/generative-ai-energy-emissions/
Al-Sibai, Noor. ChatGPT is Consuming a Staggering Amount of Water. (2023, April 19). Futurism. Retrieved November 8, 2024, from https://futurism.com/the-byte/chatgpt-ai-water-consumption
BCRF. Can AI and machine learning revolutionize the mammogram? (2024, September 24). Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Retrieved November 8, 2024, from https://www.bcrf.org/blog/ai-breast-cancer-detection-screening/
Racism and AI: “Bias from the past leads to bias in the future.” (2024, July 30). Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved November 8, 2024, from https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2024/07/racism-and-ai-bias-past-leads-bias-future
The Role of AI in Technology: How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming Industries. (2024, September 5). DataCamp. Retrieved November 8, 2024, from https://www.datacamp.com/blog/ai-in-technology#