By JOHN STOWERS
NWOSU students are generally positive about AI, but some still have their reservations about its effectiveness and its invasiveness.
AI has become a topic of increasing debate, especially when it comes to the younger generations and how to responsibly use AI. One student says that AI is being abused, but it has it’s uses as a tool.
“I definitely think that AI is abused today, especially among high-school students and younger people that are still in school,” said Danyel Cato, a sophomore Biology major “It’s not supposed to do the work for you. You can use it as a tool. I don’t really use AI much, but when I do, I treat it like a supplement. I find that it’s really useful for proofreading papers.”
Another student said that it could take the human aspect out of learning.
“I think that there are a lot of cons, but some pros,” said Hannah Betts, a junior Health and Sports Science major. “I would say more cons in the schooling environment, but in daily life, I’m making checklists, meal-prep plans and workout plans. I’ve seen it be very beneficial in those areas, but as for the learning aspect, I do think it takes away originality, and our own thought process. … I do feel like dehumanization is kind of starting to get a little out of control. Like how when you go into a store and there are so many more self-checkouts. No one is going to the register where there’s an actual worker. … But I don’t see how AI could take over everything.”
Terry McCutcheon, a senior Accounting major, said that AI could have it’s uses and that he isn’t worried about competing with AI for jobs.
“I feel like it’s good in moderation,” said McCutcheon. “You shouldn’t heavily rely on it, but I feel like it can be used as a good tool in daily life, and maybe even in different industries of business. I’ve seen what AI can do, or what it tries to do, with things like accounting, and I feel like we’ve got a little bit until [AI job replacement] actually becomes a problem. AI can barely do simple data entry, so it’s just really not something that I’m really afraid of.”
Other students said that AI development needs to slow down until we understand how to regulate it and how to understand it.
“It’s not healthy to regulate technology, in my opinion, but we don’t know how much the pros outweigh the cons, or if the cons are just exponentially worse,” said Lance Fish, a sophomore Mathematics major.
The general consensus among the students seems to be that AI can be a useful tool, but like anything else, too much can and will be a bad thing.