Artificial intelligence (AI) is a broad umbrella term that refers to a range of technologies that have been deployed for scientific, medical, and commercial purposes. Thus, critiquing AI as if it is one thing is not particularly fruitful, in my opinion. Like computers, AI can be deployed for ethical and nonethical purposes, and it can be designed, executed, and utilized in more and less ethical ways.
There are three major concerns I have with AI.
The first concern I have is the major environmental concerns. In the United States, in particular, data centers are being constructed at a rapid pace without the necessary environmental regulation and technology deployment to limit energy use, water consumption, and pollution risk for neighboring communities. AI is also increasingly being utilized for commercial purposes that provide little societal benefit but use a massive amount of natural resources. This includes the most resource-intensive applications of AI such as image and video generation. Some of the most serious environmental issues with AI could be addressed by governments regulating data center construction and regulating AI’s uses for less socially benefical purposes.
The second concern I have is an ethical concern. AI algorithms, particularly for large-scale language models like ChatGPT and Claude, were trained using the theft of a large amount of intellectual and artistic property. I believe there is a sanctity to the human creative process, and it is important that we do not allow these machines to replace or disrupt the vital role of art in culture and the creative economy.
The third concern I have is with the employment effects of job automation. AI is projected to result in large amounts of unemployment in the next 5 to 10 years, affecting workers in a range of professions. If the government does not act responsibly to provide unemployment insurance, job retraining, and universal basic income, this is likely to result in a public health crisis.
Regarding individual user of AI, I believe people lecturing other people about using AI is similar to lecturing your neighbor for keeping their lights on when there is a coal plant operating next door. Sure, we all do have some responsibility for our individual choices, but individual users of AI have a relatively limited impact compared to the corporations deploying it, the corporations developing it and profiting off of it, and the government policymakers responsible for regulating it.
On a personal level, I intentionally limit my use of AI tools in my creative, advocacy, and professional work, with a few exceptions. These include for mental health processing, as a tool to help me work through brain fog and disoriented thoughts, as a tool to receive encouraging feedback when working alone, as a tool for business/innovation/marketing idea feedback, for limited editing assistance, and code review. I specifically do not use AI for image or video generation, and I do not use paid AI services. I have made a commitment to not use AI, even for light editing, in my academic writing, fiction writing, and other art, a commitment I am making public as of this note. This use of AI aligns with my values of reducing environmental impact, avoiding exploitation of creatives, and not financially supporting AI companies.
In addition, I believe there are many very important and possibly world-changing applications of AI in science, medicine, public health, and other fields, and choosing not to engage with AI at all is similar to choosing not to use a computers. There are in fact significant ethical problems with computers, but it is challenging to contribute to or engage with society today without using computers. Increasingly, most apps are integrating AI features, so whether you are aware of it or not, AI has become a significant part of our day to day lives.
I don’t think it will work to just try to make AI go away. I think we need to recognize that it is here to stay, that it needs to be very heavily regulated by policymakers, and that it has the potential of delivering societal benefits if we insist on this through policy.
