By Tarunya Dharmarajan
Tarunya is a member of ConnectSafely’s Youth Advisory Council.
“Create schedule with my to-do list,” “Edit this email,” and “Explain a binomial distribution to me like I’m 5” are all things I’ve recently asked from the latest and greatest in technology: ChatGPT. Released by SF-based company OpenAI in November 2022, the generative AI model was the first domino in a chain for AI-powered everything, kickstarting our modern-day AI revolution. As the ConnectSafely Youth Advisory Council discussed this during our monthly meeting, the impact of intelligent technology became apparent to me. From essay brainstorming to code debugging, we all had stories of chatbots as our creative sidekick and tutor, all in one.
AI’s scope
It’s important to recognize that artificial intelligence extends far beyond the capabilities of language processing tools like ChatGPT, known as large language models. AI can also create images, sound, and video, a category known as generative AI. Beyond creation, some forms of AI don’t generate anything at all—instead, they analyze and interpret existing data. All of this relies upon the goal of replicating the human thought process, teaching computers to learn the same way we do. The artificial intelligence we have now is far from reaching that goal, but over time, we might be able to develop it to a point where it functions in a truly independent, intelligent manner. However, this scope brings about many concerns.
Job displacement
If AI can write emails, create marketing campaigns, debug code, and do it all for a much lower cost than paying an employee’s salary, where does that leave the humans traditionally doing those tasks? During the meeting, we discussed exactly that: job displacement. As AI is developed to function independently, it can replace entry-level roles, rationing fewer jobs to only the most skilled individuals with the resources to scale above AI’s capabilities. This traps low-income communities in cycles of poverty, unable to compete without access to such resources. However, AI also presents new opportunities to the workforce. Upskilling and reskilling programs can help workers pivot from entry-level roles to specialized positions in AI development and oversight. New job markets are also emerging due to the technology, including roles such as AI trainers, ethical oversight professionals, and algorithm auditors.
Creativity in the AI age
We also debated the impact of generative AI on creativity. If a well written essay or a piece of artwork is only one ChatGPT prompt away, why bother enduring the unpredictability of the creative process? The concern lies in AI’s ability to replicate human thought, potentially leading to a homogenization of culture—a world where everyone draws from the same well of rinse-and-repeat ideas stemming from the model’s training data. Instead of encouraging diverse perspectives, this could leave us with a creative landscape that’s startlingly uniform.
Artificial emotion
And, of course, what conversation about AI is complete without a “will robots replace humans” segment? If artificial intelligence is able to perfectly replicate human thought, it’s bound to have emotion. Even if we don’t program feelings into a model, it can innately develop emotions of its own if it functions at the level of a human brain. Talking about this left many questions unanswered for our youth council. Can AI really develop emotions? What are the repercussions of this?
Looking past the uncertainty of innovation, one thing has become clear to me: our strongest weapon against the potential dangers of AI is policy. With the correct legislative framework, we can create guardrails that address issues like job displacement, creative homogeneity, and worst case, human obsolescence. The development of initiatives like the SAFE Innovation Framework, a set of principles to guide AI legislation and plans for discussions between Congress and AI experts, is what I hope to see in a modern legislature that’s prepared for any type of technology. Our fear of AI lies in the fear of something more powerful than ourselves. Let’s use that fear not as a reason to halt progress but as motivation to guide it responsibly.
Opinions expressed by members of ConnectSafely’s Youth Advisory Council do not necessarily reflect those of the council as a whole or ConnectSafely.
Related
Fine-Tuning Social Media to Make it Work for Me
Parent and Teen Guide to Generative AI