By: Taurean Jewett

Artificial intelligence is now at its peak in popularity since the release of the Terminator movies in 1984. AI’s rapid expansion is force-fed to us from every major company with an internet presence, whether it be Google, Duolingo, or even our very own Holy Family. We are constantly shown the potential benefits of AI and the many ways it could ease everyday life, but we seldom hear about any negatives, which just feels too good to be true, just like when doctors used to prescribe cocaine and cigarettes. With every advancement made in life, we lose something unspoken, as things become less convenient due to rapid expansion and foretold benefits. What are we leaving behind? I think we should take a second to look at this “universal remedy.” 

Mindless Convenience

Schools are always trying to integrate the newest technology, and now even Holy Family University has an AI assistant named Lucy. These AI assistants may help in the short term, but in the long term, they can be detrimental to our problem-solving skills and academic drive, as was recently proven in an MIT study. The study divided 54 subjects—18- to 39-year-olds from the Boston area—into three groups and asked them to write several SAT essays using ChatGPT, Google Search, and nothing else. The researchers used an EEG to record the writers’ brain activity across 32 regions; they found that of the three groups, ChatGPT users had the lowest brain engagement, reporting they “consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.” Over several months, ChatGPT users became increasingly lazy with their subsequent essays, often resorting to copy-and-paste by the final essay.

Psychiatrist Dr. Zishan Khan, who treats children and adolescents, said in an interview with TIME that he sees many kids relying heavily on AI for schoolwork: “From a psychiatric standpoint, I see that overreliance on these LLMs can have unintended psychological and cognitive consequences, especially for young people whose brains are still developing.” He continues, “These neural connections that help you in accessing information, the memory of facts, and the ability to be resilient—all that is going to weaken.” 

Whether AI can create countermeasures or not is unclear, but what is clear is that the consistent use of artificial intelligence detracts from our natural intelligence. We need to slow our brakes when it comes to AI, and I advocate you to push back more because it is being brought into our schools and neighborhoods. Falls Township, less than an hour from Philadelphia, is the future home of an artificial intelligence data center funded by Amazon, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced. The data center is being built on the Delaware River watershed, taking from the same water supply that provides the greater Philadelphia area with its water.

Environmental Impact  

One of the greatest challenges we, as a world, have been battling against in the 21st century is the carbon footprint left by previous generations, as well as the environmental impact of the Industrial Revolution. Our ancestors will look back on us no differently if given the chance, with the way AI is expanding. AI relies heavily on computing at data centers; these data centers consume mass amounts of electricity and need water for constant cooling so the computers do not overheat. Many of these data centers use evaporative cooling systems, absorbing heat into the water, which evaporates—similar to how sweat wicks away heat from our bodies. The outside temperature affects how much water is used, and hot days can result in a single factory using millions of gallons of water. One study estimates that AI-driven data centers could consume 1.7 trillion gallons of water globally by 2027.

The increased interest in artificial intelligence leads to companies competing to see who can ramp up the most complex models the fastest. The only issue is that these models require increasingly more energy as well. According to Andrew Griffin at the Independent, GPT-4 “uses 12 times more energy than its predecessor.” In Memphis, Elon Musk, a billionaire former environmental activist who pivoted into the AI race at the beginning of this decade, has established Colossus, which he claims “is the most powerful AI training system in the world.” With such a powerful system, it takes a whole lot of energy to run Colossus, and currently it is being powered by “35 unpermitted temporary gas turbines, which have been pumping out a level of emissions that, according to environmentalists, is exacerbating the health issues.”

In places like Georgia, there have already been mass complaints about the adverse effects of these centers. In a BBC article from earlier this year, Beverly Morris talked about how the center has destroyed her water, and she no longer feels safe drinking it: “I can’t live in my home with half of my home functioning and no water,” Ms. Morris says. “I can’t drink the water.”

Water is already one of the most valuable resources in the world; 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to water, and a total of 2.7 billion find water scarce for at least one month of the year, according to Forbes. Being stripped of water to power machines that use human beings as the source code is dystopian.

The War Games

. These are just a few ways that AI can cause harm to people accidentally or simply as a consequence of being run, but AI, much more sinisterly, is also a weapon of mass destruction if in the wrong hands. Annie Newport and Nina Jankowicz did a report that detailed evidence that a “Pravda network,” a collection of websites and social media accounts that aggregate pro-Russia propaganda, is engaged in LLM grooming with the potential intention of training AI chatbots to reproduce Russian disinformation and propaganda. This is just an example of one of the world’s superpowers using AI to spread disinformation.

Recently, Palantir inked a contract with the U.S. Army worth up to $10 billion to meet warfare demands and streamline efficiencies while preparing for threats over the next decade. This falls in line with Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, cementing the company’s role in the U.S. government’s clampdown on cost efficiencies by using AI tools in the administration. As the threat of nuclear war dies down because of the understood threat of cyber war, which could be the next battlefield, spreading disinformation and creating fake threats or comments to justify actions, massive scandals withheld from the people, and things people have feared for years will most certainly be happening on a large scale. Artificial Intelligence’s largest proclaimed benefit is to help with finding information for sourcing ideas; this could be completely removed from the equation if the systems are flooded with disinformation.

What can you do?  

Josh Shapiro has shared how he wants to ensure the future of artificial intelligence runs through Pennsylvania. This will also ensure the future of Pennsylvania is extremely short because of the abundance of water used by AI and the carbon emissions released into the atmosphere. Reach out to Josh Shapiro and let him know you are against the expansion of AI in Pennsylvania, and you can email or call Anne Prisco and tell her you do not want the money you pay to go to school here to go towards funding LLMs that take away from learning.

Taurean Jewett II is a third-year English major at Holy Family University. Their interests include poetry, fashion & music.