It took a little bit, but finally – and very dramatically – is Artificial Intelligence catching up. Participating and taking over daily tasks of students and the employed. Sometimes helping, other times completely replacing. It’s very threatening to many workers, especially those who work alongside creativity and art. So the question comes up, are schools preparing students for a world where AI does half – or even all the work? Looking miles ahead of us, pondering what role and how big of one AI will play in this world – and how the world will adapt.
School currently strives for many different goals, splitting in social, academic, path-finding, and economic regions. Not only that but do these goals gradually shift from time to time in order to reach the standards and needs of society. The main idea is that if you do well in school, you will have a great and sustainable future, especially in the aspect of career. School teaches many specific skills, one of them being learning how to learn, through memorization, research, and curiosity. It looks good right now, but what will happen when society is adjusted to using more AI – School has adapted well a number of times, but will it be different?
OHS Senior, Tristan Buck said “For many jobs AI poses a large threat… also a cheaper and much more efficient alternative to human workers… AI can easily overpower human employees, being smarter, faster and more reliable than humans.” Buck also mentioned the fact that some jobs will be highly affected while other jobs are more unlikely.
As of now, the main things AI can perform are understanding languages, learning patterns, and creating different content like essays, videos, and more. AI has already taken many jobs, is known for having bias, creates believable content, and even in some cases being a threat by helping blackmail or even doing it itself.
OHS Senior, Lilly Baier said “It’s being incorporated into every app one way or another… and some are using our data to train AI into being more realistic… I am definitely worried AI will take over jobs. I want to help people overcome drug abuse and addiction, but they’re making therapist AI’s… Psychologists are supposed to tell the truth, but AI just tells them what they want to hear.”
Baier also stated “I feel like AI can’t replace empathy… It may say ‘I’m so sorry for you’ but that’s because that’s what it was trained to do. It doesn’t actually care about how humans feel.”
When it comes to being inside of school, AI isn’t exactly the most welcome thing. Students may see it as a helpful resource, however teachers are reasonably strict with it. OHS art teacher, Mr. Winterfeld said “It’s a tool like anything else. If used as a tool and not… doing work for a person, I think it’s warranted.”
The fact is, AI isn’t entirely reliable, not only does it have a hint of bias right now, but also misinformation. AI can’t exactly think for itself, if anything it might end up helping mankind, just the way agriculture did. Sure, AI might take some jobs, but it will probably make a few more as well. The world is going to shift, so the safest thing to do is study into a field that most likely won’t be affected quite yet, or look into multiple jobs. In a world where machines can do more, being human may be the most important skill school can teach.
