Reports have shown that AI model training leads to a serious increase in carbon emissions. Photo courtesy of The College of Information and Computer Sciences at University of Massachusetts Amherst.
San Luis Obispo High School students often use AI (Artificial Intelligence) for even the most menial of tasks. However, AI damages the integrity of journalism by carelessly stringing together sentences from unreliable sources. AI is frequently marketed as a tool to solve simple problems and issues, however, the emissions from training these models will pose an even greater threat as these language models progress.
Inside classrooms, AI is becoming a fallback. Students lean on it for essays or summaries they don’t even try to write themselves. Creativity is dying while AI takes the credit and it’s a slippery slope.
Many students resonate with this sentiment.
“AI is morally wrong to use because it takes away people’s creativity and personality…People don’t really learn or understand what they’re writing about,” said freshman Brinlee Risner.
Emissions aren’t the only problem. AI poses a bigger threat toward student experience, causing their drive to complete assignments to crash. It’s not just about effort, it’s about what students lose. Engagement. Original thinking. The pride in doing something yourself.
And journalism? It’s supposed to be about truth, effort, and perspective. AI doesn’t care about any of that.
“AI can lead to things like misinformation, cheating, and even problems that not only weaken journalistic integrity but also make people less engaged and thoughtful overall,” said freshman Zora Evans.
According to an MIT technology review, training an AI model can emit as much carbon as five cars in their lifetimes.
Sure, AI might save time. But at what cost?
“AI is one of the greatest current threats to our environment. The reason for this is that different AI services, such as ChatGPT and Meta AI, require massive amounts of energy to train and function and release greenhouse gasses in the process,” said senior Georgia Keeling.
It is so evident that companies are pushing AI in every facet of human life. With ad campaigns such as a controversial push from the popular footwear company Sketchers. These pushes come with backlash, as many of the advertisements that the brand has installed in New York City are regularly vandalized. This does no service to the brand, consumer, and graphic designers and artists that are directly affected by the use of AI from corporations that can easily afford to hire them.
So why are we normalizing AI?
It’s not just cutting corners, it’s cutting into who we are, how we learn, and the world we live in.
It’s never worth it.
Source: technologyreview.com
