While hanging out with friends last weekend, the topic of AI came up — as it always does, lately.
One friend said, “I refuse to take water from a low-income family.”
He was, of course, referring to the reports that say AI data centers use millions of gallons of water a day. Everyone in the room nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, I kept quiet and tried to hide the shame written all over my face. Little did everyone know that I have the ChatGPT app downloaded on my phone and use it daily.
I understand the concerns everyone has about AI
The future of AI is murky and worrying. I can admit that.
Beyond the environmental concerns, I often wonder what AI will do to my job as a journalist. Will it soon render me useless? What other industries will AI destroy?
I worry about Gen Alpha, who will grow up only knowing a world where they have access to instant answers and beautifully written essays within seconds. Will they ever learn how to write for themselves?
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Even for those of us who are older, I worry that we will rely too much on AI to answer the questions we once — before search engines — would have worked hard to find out ourselves. Will we lose all critical thinking skills?
The benefits of AI outweigh an uncertain future for me
On the other hand, AI has become a part of my daily routine. Instead of Googling, I now just turn to ChatGPT for a much quicker and more comprehensive answer.
Recently, for example, I was traveling out of Denver International Airport, and the roof fascinated me. It looked like the tarp of a circus tent, and I wondered how that holds up in storms. I asked ChatGPT what the airport’s roof is made of.
I quickly received a comprehensive explanation of how the airport’s roof works. In the past, I would have never bothered to Google that question, just to read through multiple websites and watch a few videos to finally get the answer. In some ways, I believe AI is making me more knowledgeable.
As an editor, I often receive hundreds of emails a day. I’ve trained ChatGPT to organize my emails from highest priority to lowest priority. It tells me which ones I don’t even need to open and which I should respond to as soon as possible.
I sometimes use it for research at work, too. ChatGPT does a great job at compiling all the studies on the internet and boiling them down into digestible charts. Of course, I have to double-check that the information is accurate and that the studies actually exist, but it feels easier than doing all the research myself via a Google search.
But every time I use the bot, I wonder if I’m shooting myself in the foot, training AI to do my job for me. Still, I remind myself that it can’t do what I do. It can’t be the journalist I’ve been trained to be.
ChatGPT has also helped me in social situations. When a friend recently turned to me for help with a mental health problem, I asked AI how I could help him through this difficult time. The bot gave me a list of responses and another list of resources to send over.
AI has helped me in so many ways in the past year, and I’m excited to see how it will change my days in the future. But I know people in my life would look at these perks with judgment, and I have to live with that shame.
I hate keeping this part of my life from most of my friends. I wish we could have a more open and honest conversation about the advantages of AI.
I’ll still carry my shame, but I hope for a better future
I don’t see the dynamics between my friends and me on this topic changing anytime soon.
Instead, I hope that we can change course and find a way to integrate AI into our lives without allowing it to disrupt entire industries and generations.
It’s easier said than done, and I know people will say I’m being willfully naive or willfully ignorant of the real concerns.
But this isn’t the first major technological advancement in history. From the printing press to the Industrial Revolution, to the dot-com bubble, and now AI, humans have always come out on top.
Hopefully, this time will be no different.
