BY DYLAN VOCHATZER

We’ve arrived at the artificial intelligence apocalypse. At least, that’s what some people think. Breaking into the new year, AI has taken off, and it is everywhere. AI that can generate conversations, images, scenarios, and news. People all over the world are taking advantage of this AI breakthrough, using AI to write their essays, generate funny images, talk to for their own entertainment, and even use celebrities’ voices for song covers. At first, it wasn’t too big of a problem. AI written essays would occasionally be written and go undetected, celebrity voiced songs would sound decent at best, and the AI were limited on what they could and couldn’t do. But now, that has all gone out the window. Tons of students are writing their essays using AI websites like ChatGPT, some of the most random celebrities are singing “California Gurls” perfectly, and AI have overstepped their boundaries when it comes to spreading news. Should AI be stopped, or heavily limited on what it can do?

First off, AI in schools; Teachers and some students frown upon the idea of using AI to write essays for them. It takes away from the student’s ability to learn and write, and puts it in the hands of AI. However, using AI to do students work for them isn’t all it is capable of in a school setting. Many schools around the globe are implementing forms of AI technology into their classrooms, using AI as helpful tutors for homework, learning different languages, and working together with AI to write essays. Among all of this AI talk is the concern of AI taking over jobs. Far into the future, if AI is implemented heavily into schools, there may be little need for teachers, and that may sound exciting for some kids, but in the grand scheme of things it isn’t good.

This brings up the topic of using artificially generated voices of celebrities to sing popular songs. All across the internet, videos have been surfacing of all types of celebrities singing all types of songs. Original song artists, sports athletes, characters from movies and shows, all singing an assortment of songs. At first, this trend lacked a lot. The voices were messy and disorganized with only the slightest of hints of the celebrity, but other than that they sounded awful. However, with the constant progression and building of AI, these sloppy voiceovers have become almost perfect replicas of music. Because of this, people have been wondering about the needs of singers. If AI can perfectly replicate someone’s voice and slap it over any song, why would we need real people to sing? With how far AI has advanced, there’s no need for songwriters either, right? AI can craft their own songs and sing themselves. Obviously this isn’t exactly the case now, but it very well could be in the future, knocking out another set of jobs for the real people of the world to explore.

One of the more recent, much larger problems comes from AI and its ability to read something, and then recreate that as its own. The New York Times has sued ChatGPT for copyrighted works. ChatGPT’s AI has gotten ahold of The Times articles and is using them as their own, and this has sparked a lot of arguments about fair use and AI’s power. The Times sued OpenAI, the company behind the popular AI app ChatGPT, for taking their own information and trying to divert readers away from their news and towards AI news. News companies like The New York Times require readers to purchase subscriptions and read their articles to make money, and since OpenAI is giving this information out too, it takes away from the revenue gain for The Times. Much of the AI industry’s argument relies heavily on “fair use,” allowing limited uses of copyrighted material for reasons such as teaching or research. The Times argues that it isn’t fair use at all, and that OpenAI is taking away from their chance to make money, without any payment or permission. This, alongside teaching and making art in the music industry, shows the looming threat of AI taking jobs, money, and for the people who fear it most, lives… 

AI takeovers can only be found in fictional media, but with how quickly AI is advancing, it is very possible it could spiral out of control. Could they take over the world? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be problems with AI that could alter the lives of everyone across the planet. At this point, lacking knowledge when it comes to artificial intelligence means being behind, and when our world moves forward as quickly as it does, you just can’t fall behind; AI certainly aren’t.