• Artificial intelligence (AI) is a form of technology that enables computers and other systems to mimic human learning, problem-solving, decision-making and creativity. In my opinion, this is detrimental to human creativity.

As a person who has spent her whole life surrounded by parents and family members who value and study the humanities, I have always appreciated creative spaces that allow you to express yourself in ways that math and science may not always be able to.

When AI was first introduced to the general public, I felt wary. My first thought was that this would lead to massive job losses for writers and imaginers, as well as counsellors, and to be honest, I was right.

Many may think that AI is a way to streamline and produce work more efficiently at a lower cost, and they’re right. It is cheaper to task a computer with a job rather than have a human being do the work.

AI is designed to make you experience serotonin when prompting it with a response and then almost instantaneously receiving an answer. This serotonin boost keeps you in a cycle of continuing to use AI.

Despite AI making everything easy, I have always shunned the idea that easy is always better. As I struggled through my degree, I have come to realize that some things in life are meant to be hard.

I recently heard a professor, while talking about the use of AI in the classroom, recite a quote from the movie A League of Their Own. “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” This quote really resonated with me.

AI makes tasks easier, but not everything is always meant to be this easy. I find that AI takes away the humanity from daily tasks and creative projects, parts that make the human experience so unique. Such are now replaced with a machine that could only ever regurgitate a thought that someone has already had.

AI is not a replacement for creatives, visionaries or healthcare professionals. AI can only ever tell you ideas that others have pioneered orcreate a wealth of false information that provides incorrect answers more 60 percent of the time. People assume AI is a quick-fix solution to more complex issues like mental health problems or medical issues. Systems using artificial intelligence can only provide watered-down responses or completely wrong answers to complex mental and physical conditions.

Mental health disorders, such as depression, OCD and anxiety, cannot be adequately treated with AI software such as ChatGPT, which provides watered-down answers and frequently incorrect responses.

I have often seen friends using ChatGPT as a replacement for professional and medical help. Seeing them asking AI about symptoms for potential medical injuries or illnesses, posing questions such as “Am I dying?” or “Is it normal to feel sad for more than 2 weeks?” These questions often reflect a need for more professional help than AI can provide.

It is not just the medical and mental health field that AI is slowly but surely seeping into. It’s journalism, education, film, photography and more. AI reaches into almost every corner of the internet or work field, making it easy for professionals working in certain fields to be discredited or underappreciated.

AI makes things easy with brief and clear answers but is it worth trading accuracy, when ChatGPT is wrong half the time, for efficiency that often undermines creatives and healthcare professionals?

AI, in my opinion, is not worth using when the cost is falling into a repetitive cycle of dependence.

My advice for anyone who uses AI is to think — is it really worth stealing someone else’s work for quick answers that are more likely to be wrong than right? Choose to think creatively, seek help from a professional if need be
and choose humanity before you choose a machine.