Will AI do more harm than good in the world?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is constantly changing and actively transforming various industries, from healthcare to finance. AI’s potential for sustainability is increasingly being explored for the future. Even though AI seems temporarily useful for information, such as schoolwork, it also has major environmental and psychological setbacks.

I am an eco-warrior at my school, and I believe that AI does more harm than good. We only have one planet and if we don’t protect the world, something disastrous might happen to us humans. Such as: more droughts, and other natural disasters. Building and training AI systems uses a lot of energy, which produces greenhouse gas emissions that speed up climate change.

Although many people know how serious climate change is, Bill Gates, who is the co-founder of Microsoft, says,” AI will change the way people work, learn, travel, get healthcare,and communicate with each other…I’m excited about the impact that AI will have.” However, I strongly disagree with what he says because he says that AI will help people get healthcare, but AI is causing more harm and toxic pollution in our lives, which in my opinion, is even worse because no one will be able to live a happy and healthy life with greenhouse gas emissions in our oxygen. Because AI needs technology (like computers) to work harder it causes them to wear out more quickly and it produces more electronic waste. Did you know that by 2030, AI is predicted to create millions of tonnes of electronic waste.

Furthermore, AI has a severe impact on the environment, affecting the planet in many ways. Data centers that house AI generate increased amounts of technological waste each year due to its growing demand. They are large consumers of water and rely on critical materials and rare elements to function. This promotes unsustainability, as AI consumes excessive amounts of energy. For example, OpenAI's GPT-3 model requires 1,287 MWh, emitting 550 metric tons of CO2, which contributes to global warming.

Additionally, AI drains device lifespans, and since many of these devices cannot be recycled, they end up in landfills, further polluting the planet. AI is taking over everything and that’s very scary indeed! It's like the more we use it, the more we let it control our lives. People are getting too lazy and thinking less for themselves, like AI is spoon-feeding them everything. It's like being stuck in a room full of sweets- you get all this instant gratification, but it rots your brain over time. Using AI is like having a thousand light bulbs on all the time, burning through electricity and materials, and soon we run out of good stuff. The technology just keeps making waste and the earth just can’t keep up and the more we depend on AI, the more the planet suffers.

This may seem bad enough but AI is taking jobs from human beings! We all worked hard, and we shouldn't be replaced by a clump of metal and material! People need their jobs to live and to have a house. Imagine if you get kicked out of your house by a robot who doesn't even sleep, drink or eat! If AI keeps taking our jobs, then it’s like our world’s economy is built on quicksand and it will soon crumble.

I wonder how much longer we can survive before this AI monster swallows us up?