People Who Absolutely Refuse To Use AI Usually Say 6 Things When Someone Brings It Up
FXQuadro / Shutterstock Chat, are you hearing this? AI has become a huge topic of debate. Some people believe it will save the world, while others believe it will be our downfall. There are definitely arguments to be made on both sides, but people who are completely against using AI (myself included) usually have plenty to contribute to the conversation when other people bring it up.
People who absolutely refuse to use AI tend to say these things when others bring it up
1. "It's plagiarism"
One argument against using AI is that it is plagiarism. Even if AI isn’t explicitly copying someone’s writing word for word and pretending to have written it, LLMs do pull information from various sources and recreate it as though it was its own.
Given how new these systems are, legal experts are working hard to determine to what extent AI is genuinely infringing on the copyrights of the material it is learning from. That debate will take time, and in the meantime, regardless of what legislation is or isn’t eventually passed, people who currently refuse to use AI feel a moral duty to refrain from using it at the potential expense of the real people who did the hard work of researching and writing the words AI can now pass on to users without crediting the original source.
2. "AI will take our jobs"
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This is another debate that is quite complicated. Pro-AI people believe that AI has created a productivity boom, which is great. On the other hand, others say AI is expected to lead to a rapid rise in unemployment rates within the next decade.
While many people think artificial intelligence is simply another technological tool that we are fortunate to be able to harness, those who are already seeing it replace humans in a variety of workplaces, including grocery stores and customer service centers, don't want to be complicit in causing people, especially those in entry-level, lower-paying jobs, to lose their livelihoods.
3. "I want to do the actual work"
There’s no denying that AI can help people be more productive. The issue, however, is that younger and future generations may not know how to do the work because they've always let AI do it for them.
Some even say that AI isn’t actually making us stupider. By allowing us to get things done without doing them for ourselves, we fail to learn anything about the steps involved and wouldn't be able to explain or replicate the results later if we needed to.
4. "AI is destroying our planet"
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Studies have shown that AI is potentially harmful to our already at-risk environment, as it uses a vast amount of water and energy to run. According to Mike Weinstein, director of sustainability at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), "AI data centers are currently located in areas with grids predominantly powered by fossil fuels, meaning coal- and gas-fired power plants. These are fuel sources that contribute to global climate change by releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere when they are burned.”
Additionally, researchers say AI data centers are "causing concerning levels of water depletion in certain areas," including the Great Lakes.
5. "I'm worried for the next generation"
Many people who refuse to use AI are concerned about what it means for future generations. The use of AI in education systems is a major issue up for debate.
New York City Public Schools have even banned the use of AI in elementary schools. The new policy aims to "protect students’ critical thinking abilities as well as the relationships between students and teachers,” and many people support enforcing this rule in other schools as well.
6. "AI isn't art"
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As if the concerns listed above weren’t scary enough, people are also worried about the future of the arts. AI can write poems and books, generate paintings and drawings, and has even created actors. It can all be cool, but it’s also pretty scary.
Author Eric Reinhart explains that “the essence of art is lost in the process of its machinic invention and, with it, the very possibility of a democratic society is put under threat.” Art is a means of expression and therefore inherently challenges society's norms. If we give AI this job, what are we questioning?
Sophie Bagheri is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and theatre who covers lifestyle topics.
