There are many positive and negative effects of the increase in AI usage for many different groups of people, including students; however, many people suffer from the consequences of AI use, a Marshall University professor said.
“Large language models like ChatGPT are powered by massive data centers that consume enormous amounts of electricity and water and emit large amounts of pollutants, so every answer that AI generates for someone puts an even greater strain on our planet,” said Ryan Philips, assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice, Criminology and Forensic Sciences.
“Due to environmental racism, the areas in which these data centers are located are often poor neighborhoods of color that are promised economic growth but end up dealing with contaminated drinking water and increased air pollution,” he said.
There are also concerns from professors about how AI will impact their students’ future careers.
“It has already taken away the need for a lot of jobs, and there are many more that will be made redundant in the future,” Philips said. “Having masses of people unemployed in a country where the social safety net is so inadequate and when the cost of living has been skyrocketing – it is a worrying prospect.”
As students start to rely more on AI, their critical thinking skills deteriorate.
“Another concern I have is the impact the proliferation of AI will have on our ability to think,” Philips said. “Our brains are like muscles; if you stop using a muscle, it will atrophy, and the same is true of the brain.”
Another way AI is being used in real world situations is to identify people; however, this sometimes causes more issues than it solves.
“I am quite concerned about the applications of AI in terms of surveillance and policing because there have been multiple instances of AI-integrated facial recognition software matching a face with the wrong person, leading to innocent people being arrested,” Philips said. “These kinds of applications are alarming, and I am worried about the impact they will have on marginalized groups.”
Some professors at Marshall are willing to let their students use AI programs for certain tasks within their classes; however, that doesn’t apply to all majors.
“In my areas of teaching, which are criminology and criminal justice, I do not see any reason for students to need to use it,” Philips said. “However, there are many different types of classes and disciplines out there, and I’m sure some of them have found AI to be useful.”
Despite AI being used in so many fields, there are still many reasons for students to not rely on it.
“I want to encourage my students to learn and think on their own without the use of a machine,” Philips said.
“Considering AI is being used in criminal justice in the real world, I also want to challenge my students to think about the moral implications and societal impacts of it,” he said.
Even though there are many issues caused by AI usage, there are still some benefits for students.
“It certainly has the potential to be helpful by saving people time, helping them learn and potentially helping to aid with innovation in important fields, like medicine,” Philips said. “It can be a useful tool, but if it is used so much that we effectively offload our critical thinking capabilities onto it, then I worry about our future.”
Amanda Arrowood can be contacted at [email protected].
