AI is improving at an alarming rate, and the reality is that we can’t keep up. I’ve frequently overheard my friends say, “I just used ChatGPT,” as if it’s no big deal. Sure, it’s incredibly easy to use, and it can save a lot of time, however, relying on AI so heavily hinders the learning process. Don’t get me wrong — I’m not saying that ChatGPT isn’t useful or important. It absolutely is. But I think we need to rethink how we use it. Instead of simply letting AI do the work for us, it would be so much more beneficial if we could use it as a learning tool. For example, we could ask ChatGPT to help edit something, but we should also ask it to explain why certain changes are needed. In that way, we can learn from the AI and actually improve our own skills, instead of letting it do everything for us.
If we default to using ChatGPT for everything then creativity diminishes. We can see examples of this already happening in LA where the writers strike took place. Starting in 2023, it lasted 148 days and was one of the longest worker’s strikes in history. It ensued because the writers weren’t getting paid enough and wanted to prove to the film industry that they couldn’t be replaced by AI. And they were right, as AI generated content is generally worse than human made content. The reason is that as of right now you can tell when something is AI, an extra finger, a perfect, computer looking filter over the whole image. They lack the essence of human creativity because AI hasn’t figured out how to reproduce that. The scary thing is that AI is always improving and one day, we might not be able to distinguish real from artificial.
I would argue that some people can’t even tell the difference now. Especially people of older generations that tend to believe everything they see online. This can be really dangerous, if your grandma is scrolling through Facebook she might see an AI generated post with some phenomenon that might seem clearly fake to us. This is fine, but when the posts start asking for money is when it gets dangerous and can lead to things like fraud. AI can also have effects on the real world. Do you remember the fake image of the Pentagon on fire that actually dropped the stock market for a short period of time? Even though the government was able to quickly tell the public that the image was fake it still left a big impact on everyone. This just shows how dangerous AI can be.
ChatGPT and other AIs are tempting, but in the grand scheme of things it’s much better to do the work yourself. Or at least use AI in the right way, asking it for guidance or constructive criticism. You will be faced with challenges that ChatGPT can’t solve, and you’ll be grateful that you used it as a learning tool and not a crutch.