Artificial Intelligence is like that one person you don’t like who you just cannot get away from. They’re on campus, they show up at your job, and they’re always at the drugstore when you go to pick up your prescription. So, you take a different route to your classes. You duck into the back when you see them at work. You go to the drugstore fifteen minutes before it closes. You think you are safe.  

Then, all of a sudden, you find out that you have three mutual friends. Now, you’re hanging out with the same people. There is no escape. 

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I’ve changed my internet browser to get away from AI generated answers. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had to fish through app settings to uncover how to turn off their AI options. Yet there seems to be something new every day. Another AI-driven update I cannot get away from.  

Throughout my quest to avoid AI as much as possible, I’ve had to explain my reasoning on several occasions to others who do not understand why I’m not just embracing the new technology, or worse, listen to lectures on how I will get left behind if I don’t suck it up and enhance my work with AI. 

I do often feel like an old person who refuses to use an ATM during these conversations, but much like your stubborn grandparents- no, my mind will not be changed. Here’s why. 

The first argument that’s often brought up when discussing why AI is such a big issue is the environment, but how exactly does AI impact the environment?   

In order to train AI, there is an immense demand of energy in both training the models and keeping the models running. The environmental cost of the training of AI models in particular is steep. A study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts found that training can emit approximately 626,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, which is a staggering amount.  

Additionally, the upkeep of AI data centres requires massive amounts of chilled water on standby to cool the computers, creating threats to water security globally. The environmental repercussions of generative AI is speeding up climate change. 

Climate denier? Good news (actually… bad news, but you get the point): the consequences are not limited to only environmental concerns. AI use has proved to have many negative impacts on the ol’ noggin.  

Generative AI has been found to increase the risk of cognitive atrophy and contributes to the loss brain plasticity. Dependence on generative AI has also been found to carry the overall risk of cognitive decline. There have even been cases of AI fuelling delusions, causing the term “AI psychosis” to emerge. 

Furthermore, there is the issue of copyright when discussing the data used to train AI models. There is writing and art fed to these models without the knowledge or consent of those who had created the original works. Generative AI threatens the occupations which thrive on human creativity. Artists, writers, and musicians are all at risk of having their work fed into AI training datasets.  

So, where does it all leave us? Generative AI worms its way into every facet of our lives. In many cases it’s invited by the consumer, while the environmental, psychosocial, and ethical concerns pile up like a mountain in the background. I do not understand the want to outsource to AI. I do not understand how I should be marvelled by the technological advancement that is making everything empty and soulless. The technological advancement that is accelerating climate change. I do not understand how exactly I should be excited to use AI. All I see is the erosion of our collective humanity.