Opinions: Second-Hand Thinking

A critical response to A.I.

Artificial intelligence has become the centre of our world. Generative AI; be it Chat GPT, Gemini, Grok or the endless new examples appearing every day, are in my opinion, taking the place of genuine human thoughts and connection. I believe we can consider these models to be thieves; stealing our art, our minds, our jobs, our water and, to the largest extent, our future. ‘Second-hand thinking’ is creating a world where people no longer must make the effort to come up with thoughts and ideas themselves, which, if left unchecked, could lead to an unfathomable cognitive decline. If we don’t make the effort to use our brains, will they still be there when we need them? 

Most teenagers I know are in some way dependent on these AIs. My teenage brother is extremely guilty of this, arguing that Chat GPT is going to do ‘unbeatable things in the future’. But when I’m reading the opinions he sent me to include in this piece and find myself wondering whether he actually used AI to write them, I get more fearful of the day that I will have no way of truly knowing if any text messages, photos, videos or any kind of media I see will have a human behind them or a robot. What will this world look like? We must consider the possible consequences of a world where anything you see may not be by the people claiming it.  

The irony is that Chat GPT isn’t even technically an ‘AI’; but a language model, meaning it will generate a response based on what you’ve said without understand the meaning of a single word it says itself. This ‘AI’ will tell you what it knows you want to hear; it will not provide any true moral lessons or advice because it will always support and encourage you. Think of all the stories of AI psychosis; on the extreme end there are people become convinced that they are Gods, and further down the scale we have people using Chat GPT as a ‘therapist’ for their struggles; I’m not qualified myself, but I have enough knowledge to know that a therapist who tells you that you are always right is not a good therapist. 

This growing usage and dependence on AI seems to be infiltrating our world; speaking to my parents about their AI usage led to a large amount of technical jargon to do with their jobs using AI that didn’t particularly interest me; though I did learn we are buying an AI-controlled washing machine! Theoretically, this washing machine will use analysis of weights and fabrics to determine the most eco-friendly use of water, which brings into question the ongoing argument of AI’s environmental impact. Does an eco-friendly washing machine cancel out the huge amount of water and resources taken up by the infamous AI databases? Is the ideal solution to consider these databases inevitable, and therefore do whatever we can in the opposite direction?  

I know that I cannot be too unyielding in my opinions because at this point, the fact of the matter seems to be that generative AI is growing significantly and will continue to do so; and whilst I cannot deny my fear of this growth, what it could one day lead to and what it is doing to our world, the most I can do is encourage anyone reading this to be responsible with your AI usage; and make sure that you keep using your own mind for your thinking.  

(published anonymously)