Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is being used for malicious purposes, especially as we have become increasingly electronic and mobile as a society. It provides an area for computers, robots, and other devices to weave their way through the non-fictitious world we live in. There are a colossal amount of fears surrounding AI, such as the decrease in job opportunities, identity theft, and an overall expansion of human-like intelligence in our society. These concerns will only expand as this feature evolves and matures.
One continuous obstacle educators face is the idea that students can cheat from websites that directly release an answer without increasing the knowledge of or teaching the user. Platforms including ChatGPT, Copy.AI, and Synthesia.io provide the possibility for students to mindlessly copy and paste information that do not have any real instructional value. Statistics have shown that one in five students use ChatGPT to get fast answers on their school work which ruins the original goals of learning and educating. Though these platforms are encouraging and helpful for individuals who are struggling to get anything down on their paper, it can later encourage people to stop interacting with their teachers or school assignments unless they have artificial assistance.
Such platforms can be used for various other purposes including generating poems, songs, and illustrations that question the very principle of art and where it stands today. AI has many people perpetually worried that humans are being stripped of their right to make mistakes and express a soulful form of art, damaging people’s personal views and their opportunities to feel accepted by society. For example, there are numerous filters on TikTok that display quick and rapid illustrations in different styles such as anime, geometric art, and even oil paintings which have recently gained striking popularity. It is truly fascinating and captivating to watch a quick still of yourself or a figure around you get sculpted into something one may find at a flea market in France. While some may smile at the lighthearted artforms on their screen, others are torn about the construction of these pieces and what they mean for the future of the art industry. In an interview with The Guardian, Kaloyan Chernev, the founder of MidJourney, Stable Diffusion and Deep Dream Generator, an AI generator, stated, “AI image generation is largely being used for fun, but it’s rapidly approaching a level of sophistication and complexity that will allow it to generate highly realistic and nuanced images.” These creations are becoming nearly interchangeable with real-life abilities, which strikes a fright among those with a career in art, and people who fear that these computerized designs will overshadow the work that deserves appreciation.
Identity fraud is another serious dilemma our population has faced for over a century. With each new technological stride comes an even bigger advancement we attempt to contain. However, artificial intelligence makes this job much more difficult. Some of the scariest and most bizarre forms of AI identity theft are displayed on social media. For example, deep fakes are defined as a video of a person’s face being digitally altered so another person can use it to appear as someone else. This typically malicious tactic is one that violates one’s identity, and can be used to harm one’s digital footprint. Other social media platforms, such as Snapchat, utilize an AI tool (called “My AI” on SnapChat), which demonstrates how easily accessible the feature is to users everywhere. My AI consists of a computerized personal “friend” that you can chat with whenever, and that will respond in a matter of seconds. While the social media app has advertised this new component as completely harmless and anonymously protected for each user of this synthetic friend, using My AI firsthand, there have been some dubious incidents. When sending a photo, or “snap,” to this feature, it will immediately respond coherently with what is in the photo. However, when directly asked about the contents of the photo, the AI responds that it can not see photos, leaving a strange wonder as to how it can see those pictures in the first place if they claim to have disappeared.
Since My AI is consistently developing with Snapchat, old bugs will disappear and new ones will come about. Artificial intelligence is always evolving, and as a rapidly growing technological society, we can’t even manage to keep up. It provides some exceptional advancements helping plenty of people grow and learn, but it is also continuing to reach a point where it is getting far too much for our world. AI is pursuing new things constantly that put jobs, careers, creativity, and the idea of identity embezzlement at risk. It might just be doing way more harm than good if you conceptually look at the big picture of our future with technology.
