Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is everywhere these days. Some people think it’s the solution to all of humanity’s problems and some think it’s going to bring about the end of life as we know it. The truth, as usual, is somewhere in between. But with so many different opinions and so many ways that AI can be used, it’s hard to know exactly what to believe.

There’s no denying that AI has enabled some incredible scientific breakthroughs, like new tests for cancer and new tools to communicate with whales. But it often makes factual mistakes, inventing information that never existed. AI developers call these “hallucinations,” and according to tests done by the company OpenAI, the hallucination rates of newer AI systems were as high as 79%. That’s a 79% chance that a piece of information given to you by AI is just fully made up.

It’s having a huge impact on education and our already-low literacy rates. Teachers say that an increasing number of students are using ChatGPT to complete their assignments. They’re even using AI for friendship and therapy, sometimes with tragic results. Adults are using AI too to write emails, summarize articles, or just help them bake a cake — harmless enough until we, like the women at the start of this video, can’t function without help from our “best friend who is also a robot.”

And this isn’t even to mention the enormous environmental toll of AI data processing centers. The carbon emissions from Google alone have risen 65% in the past 5 years because of the increased demand for AI.

People have dreamed of the day that machines can take over our mundane and mindless tasks, but instead, right now AI is taking over the things that make us the most human: learning, communicating with each other, art, and friendship. It’s especially concerning when those changes are happening to our kids, who don’t have the experience or wisdom to know when to use AI and when to use their own brain. 

We can’t stop the forward march of progress, but we need to be very mindful of the world we’re creating. Genuine connection is the most valuable thing we have. It’s what makes us human. Let’s make sure we don’t lose it.

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