Bigfoot is making vlogs with your favorite yeti, a cat and an owl had a baby cowl, and of course a baby monkey does TikTok dances. However, none of this is true.
Artificial Intelligence, more commonly known as AI, is fastly becoming a part of our society. When thinking of AI most think of Chat GPT, Snapchat AI, or even those robots that will bring you food!
However, what most don’t know is how damaging AI is to our world. Ai isn’t just a program on a computer or something on your phone. Artificial Intelligence is stored in factories the size of steel mills.
According to researchers at Open AI (the company who runs ChatGPT chatbots), since 2012, the power that it took to train AI has doubled every 3.4 months. It is expected by 2040 the emissions put off by AI will reach 14% of all global emissions. Meaning, AI will be the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
For those who don’t know, the over production of greenhouse gas is the main contributor to global warming. This means, AI is directly affecting things like air pollution, the ice melting in the North and South Pole, and the rise of our oceans.
An analogy commonly used to explain your effect when using AI is the following: imagine every time you use Chat GPT or some sort of AI you pour a cup of perfectly good drinking water down the drain. But, it doesn’t stop there. That water is now polluted due to the dangerous chemicals AI factories are transmitting. That water is now in the oceans and eventually enters the water cycle.
As of now the only way to stop this vicious cycle is to stop using AI so recklessly. Use Google, or even go to a really old school and read a book.
Unfortunately, AI is not only ruining the environment but is raising mental health concerns as well. There is a new term surfacing called “AI Psychosis”. According to the DSM 5, psychosis includes symptoms of delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior, and negative symptoms. AI Psychosis is when someone is in a state of psychosis and tries to use AI as a type of therapist or in place of someone to talk to. There are even some cases where people will talk to AI while in a mental health spiral and it will cause the person to go into a psychosis-like state.
Psychiatrist and Professor at University of Michigan Stephan Taylor, M.D. has been treating and studying psychosis for years. In an article written by Michigan Medicine, Taylor states, “The ability to “talk” with an AI tool that reinforces and rewards what a person is thinking, doesn’t question their assumptions or conclusions, and has no human sense of morals, ethics, balance or humanity, can clearly create hazardous situations.”
While there is currently no official percentage of people who have mental health struggles who have been negatively impacted by Ai, doctors do know it’s happening. Remember mental health matters and it’s important to talk to a professional or if in a state of crisis you can call 988 the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
With all this being said, STOP USING AI. Just stop. It’s bad and you are killing the trees and polar bears. You would be the Lorax’s number one enemy. So next time you choose to use Chat GPT instead of doing your homework remember that everything you do causes an impact.
