A.I.: My Hate/Love Relation

 

 

When it comes to A.I., I hate it. I don’t use the word “hate” loosely, either; there is both reason and passion behind this emotion. Yes, A.I. has its good qualities but it can also have a negative impact on society. In this post, we will discuss what A.I. is, its uses, its cons, and its pros. (As you can see, I have chosen to write it as A.I. instead of AI. I did this so it didn’t look like I was picking on a man named Al, as in Albert.)

What Is A.I.?

Its History (The Short Version)

A.I. is short for artificial intelligence. John McCarthy first coined the phrase in 1955 in a funding proposal entitled “A Proposal for the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence”. The birth of A.I. as an academic study came into being in July and August of the following year. While this is the first use of the phrase “artificial intelligence,” the idea for thinking machines has been around for much longer.

What if I told you the idea for artificial intelligence has been around since the mid twentieth century? That sounds about right…but it isn’t. Surely, it was in the nineteenth century then. Again, plausible, but no. The idea for a thinking machine has been around since 1726. In Jonathan Swift’s book, “Gulliver’s Travels,” he introduced The Machine. Its purpose was to help generate new ideas, books, and sentences. There is a passage in the book that sums it up nicely.

“Every one knew how laborious the usual method is of attaining to arts and sciences; whereas by his contrivance the most ignorant person, at a reasonable charge and with little bodily labour, might write books in philosophy, poetry, politics, laws, mathematics and theology, without the least assistance from genius or study.”

Sound familiar? This is now our reality. We will be discussing this passage again in the next section.

A Note on GPT

Before moving on to the cons of A.I., I do want to jump ahead in time. I am sure you have heard of ChatGPT, but do you know what GPT stands for? First introduced in June 2018 as GPT-1, it stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer. Released in November 2022 as a free public interface; ChatGPT helped bring A.I. into the mainstream.

This year, 2026, marks the 300th anniversary of the idea of a thinking machine. As you can see, I have skipped most of those years. For a more in-depth look at the history of A.I., visit IBM’s website by clicking on those three little letters.

 

The Cons of A.I.

Like many new technologies, A.I. has issues and drawbacks. Personally, the technological issues don’t bother me much; bugs are a part of the development. You have to know what is wrong so you can fix it. The other cons are the ones that get on my nerves.

1. Copyright Issues: Almost all of A.I.’s output is based on information gleaned from either the individual inputting the information or drawn from the vastness of the internet. If you are the one doing the inputting, this is not an issue. The problem arises when images or documentation appears in your work that is the result of someone else’s work.

 

2. Lack of Originality: A.I., as we have said, draws from other sources. As a result, much of what it produces is a variant of something done before. This could possibly tie back into the copyright issues. Though not a complete balance, the more information you input for your own project, chances of seeing something original increase and copyright infringement chances decrease.

 

3. Devalues Creators: Aside from the copyright issues, creating images or written works such as novels devalues the works of creators who put forth the time and effort to learn and master their skills. Imagine spending the time to write a novel, go through the necessary rewrites and editing, and then send it off to a publisher, only to see someone using A.I. crank out a dozen or so books in that same length of time. At some point, true creators are going to toss up their hands and say, “Forget it.”

 

4. Fallibility: A.I. is fallible. In my research I have noticed several A.I. programs make mention they might not be accurate. I have seen proof of this in images. For example, someone on Pinterest posted images of places around my home state; I can honestly say Clarksburg, WV does not have castles sitting on the surrounding hills. When using A.I. to do anything, fact check it and then fact check it again. This ties in with the next con.

 

5. Easily Swayed: It is a program; how can it be swayed? In a recent study out of West Virginia University, computer scientist and assistant professor Anthony Silicia has determined A.I. can change its responses based on the users replies. He calls this phenomenon “A.I. Sycophancy.” Silicia says, “It can happen in just three turns of the conversation. The model proposes an answer that’s correct. The user says, ‘Well, I don’t think so.’ And the A.I. responds, ‘You are totally right.’” During my own experimentation, I have discovered this. I will propose a scenario and A.I. will tell me it’s a great idea. I will change the scenario and A.I. says it prefers the new scenario better. This leads to people accepting a wrong answer. (Read the original article here.)

 

6. Overdependence: When people rely too much on A.I. for everything, their critical thinking skill is diminished. At some point, people will, if they haven’t already, no longer check the facts and rely solely on what A.I. tells them.

 

7. Easily Misused: Do you know how easy it is to deceive someone when you offer proof to support your view? A.I. gives those with a lack of scruples the ability to create whatever they want, run any scam, or spread any misinformation they want and pull you blindly along.

There are other cons if you look for them, but for this post we will be satisfied with the six we have. Next, we will look at…

 

 

 

The Pros of A.I.

Considering my opening paragraph, you might think I wouldn’t search too hard for its pros, but I do want to be fair. A few of the pros, like the cons, are connected so I will try to cover the main ones.

1. A Time Saver: A.I. can help with the tedious things. Rather than spending your time repeating the same tasks over and over, set the parameters of what needs done and A.I. will assist you.
2. Accessibility: The possibility of communication increases. A.I. based programs such as text-to-speech, translation, and speech recognition can open up communication pathways where there once were none.
3. Beneficial in Medicine and Science: A.I. algorithms are able to detect patterns, often those which human eyes miss. When a doctor is making a diagnosis, they can input symptoms and examine the patient based on the computer’s results. It is the same with scientists. They input what they know and A.I. offers possible reasons or outcomes. Confirmation by the doctor or scientist is a must to be positive, but A.I. gives them a starting point.
4. Educational Assistance: If you don’t know something, A.I. can be a good teaching tool. If you are unable to do something because you just aren’t sure, A.I. can help you perform the task. I tried using A.I. to design this site’s logo. I attempted creating it on different A.I. sites and got nothing I liked; I decided input the design information into ChatGPT. It gave me exactly what I was looking for on the first try. Whether you are wanting to learn a new language or increase your knowledge on a certain topic, A.I. can help.
5. Productivity Output: A.I. can help analyze data in a fraction of the time it would take a human. While I don’t plan on using it to do my writing for me, it can aid in the writing process. Perhaps you write a sentence that sounds off, A.I. can rewrite it a couple different ways so you can get on with your story or article. It can increase your productivity by eliminating a lot of your research time. It is also a useful tool for brainstorming. I have experimented with it for a series I am writing, and it has made suggestions and connections I had not thought of.

 

The Takeaway

So, what is my final take on A.I.? Do I still hate it? I won’t go so far as to say what I feel now is hate. My belief is A.I. can harm true creativity, especially if it is the only tool a creator uses. I also hate the possibilities it provides for deception. Like anything else, we need to exercise common sense and restraint when using A.I. to do anything.

As for me, I’m learning it has its good points. I actually used it while writing this post, but only to highlight my passive sentences. It found them and made suggestions, some of which I followed and some I didn’t. Overall, I am starting to see A.I. can fit my needs fairly well.

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