AI users decipher between help and dependence
By Grace McCarthy
Artificial intelligence (AI) can be multiple tools all at once.Certain students use AI as a tool for ways to understand material and save time from being confused. Others have fears of ruining their critical thinking skills by relying too much on AI.
Delta College student Brayden Braeutigam uses AI quite frequently for school. His own experience with the platform started around his senior year of high school when it became more popular.
Braeutigam finds AI’s most common use is breaking down complicated instructions.
Brauetigam also uses this technology as a way to spark ideas and influence creativity. He believes AI should be a tool instead of a source used to cheat.
Braeutigam also uses AI at work to cycle through long emails or to help fill out forms. Even though he believes AI is more helpful than harmful, he still questions AI’s answers and proceeds with caution.
A tool, not a teacher
Delta College student Gayle Tomlinson also believes in using AI as a tool instead of a source used solely for completing work.
“When I use AI, I only use it to find websites and resources to help me figure out a question,” she said.
She said students have an obligation to do their work material on their own rather than typing into an AI program. Accepting the response without a second thought or glance is concerning.
Not only is this a frightening thinking space to be in, but it can reach farther outside the classroom than expected. Tomlinson said AI-generated videos and photographs are becoming more popular and more challenging to point out.
Tomlinson expressed her concerns of AI use in major fields of work. Hospitals, construction sites or Social Security offices are places where she believes people need to use their own minds rather than relying on technology.
“Only use AI to help you,” she said. “I can’t necessarily say AI is going on the greatest path right now, especially in our society. It should be a tool, not a teacher. Let it help you, not do the work for you.”
Rejecting AI
Mars Poletti, a student from Birch Run High School, takes a different approach.
“I do not use [Ai],” Poletti said. “I refuse.”
One of his biggest concerns is how many people are dependent on AI in his classroom.
“[Peers] just don’t do their work,” he said. “[They] just throw it into AI and go on with their days. Easy grades, I guess.”
By being overly reliant on this platform, Poletti believes people won’t be able to think critically. Unlike Brayden and Tomlinson, Poletti rebukes AI as a whole and believes it is unnecessary for school or future employment.
A first stop, not the last
Boston Alumni Mary Reed continues to approach AI with caution, even though she uses the platform regularly.
Reed uses AI more than a few times a week for research and casual use. Instead of accepting that AI is telling the truth, she believes people should fact-check and find reliable sources.
“The root of the problem is that people don’t understand how to vet source material,” she said.
For Reed, AI can be the starting point of research. The convenience of AI isn’t to completely trust its platform. According to Reed, AI produces information that isn’t supported or has inaccurate results.
These four viewpoints of Artificial Intelligence all raise the same. At what point does AI start taking over the job market or quell people’s search for knowledge?
It all comes down to what we choose to do with the information at our fingertips.
“Don’t let ChatGPT be your last stop,” Reed said. “Just make it your first stop.”
(Payton Braeutigam, Adysen Poletti and Mikayla Sova contributed to this report.)