With the seemingly unstoppable development of AI, what does it mean for students, and how do they view it in their day-to-day life?
Like many adults, the opinion of students takes a wide array of stances. Dash Amerikova, a student studying Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry believes that while they ‘understand the rooted hatred of literature and art students towards Chat GPT', as a STEM based student they 'love the possibilities opened to [them] by Chat GPT.’
Along with being able to write speaker notes quickly and efficiently, Amerikova says that it can be a ‘very productive timesaver for things that do not require much of your devoted attention’. It can also be used as a learning tool, helping people to improve their writing skills by finding new examples similar to a topic or style they are working on - which can potentially help people in the working world or as a student.
Likening the concept to popular AI writing assistant Grammarly (which incidentally gives a ‘close to perfect score’ on AI written paragraphs), Dash believes that is more useful as a tool than as a hindrance to students and their work. However, they do recognise that ‘Plagiarism is a big issue’ which is a point of primary concern with many that dislike AI.
Another argument against the rise of AI is the lack of creativity that can be utilised. A humanities student, Emma Quayle, remarked that AI ‘can be useful for inspiring essay plans and notes’ it ultimately ‘removes the process of thinking deeply about a subject, which is often the art itself’. While she sees the use of AI as inevitable, it is ‘concerning’ how fast it is developing, and learning.
Recently, as reported by the Guardian, an open letter to stop the development of AI was signed by over 1800 people, including Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Google and DeepMind - as well as tech giants Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak. However, it has faced criticism as it was ‘unclear’, putting the priority on worst-case scenarios and not the immediate danger of programming bias.
There is also a large problem with issues of copyright infringement and platforms such as Dall-E and Midjourney potentially putting artists out of work, as employers may choose to use cheaper and faster alternatives to human labour. However, there is something to be said for the unmistakable value of human work, particularly in art (in any form) as fundamentally it is contingent on the portrayal of human experience.
Many other websites and apps have also begun to include AI in their services (some on limited subscriptions), such as Notion which gives users the option to ‘Brainstorm ideas’, ‘Summarise’ or ‘Outline’ amongst other functions. A new example of this is also Snapchat’s MyAI, which when asked to ‘expand’ on its role said that it can ‘give you recommendations’ for things ‘in your area’ (presumably based off of your location) or can be there if you are ‘feeling down and need someone to talk to’.
While AI can have detrimental uses, and it depends on the integrity of the user in most cases, it can also have a multitude of benefits in day to day life. Since AI has already made its way into the conversation, it is highly unlikely that it can be fully stopped or banned - but the real question is how do we proceed morally in this brave new world?
