The Smallest Voice in the AI Room

Yesterday, I was in a room full of tech professionals, thought leaders, company founders, and longtime software connoisseurs. I was quite possibly the youngest in the room – something that I have had to get used to working in the field that I do. The topic of conversation was, unsurprisingly, the same topic of conversation I have been listening to and having since late 2023 – artificial intelligence. Specifically, examining whether or not we should be worried about this life-changing technology.

My own relationship with AI is a strange one. I loathe using it, truly, yet I find myself using it almost daily. To condense reports, to flesh out ideas, to explain complex terms. As a journalist, it has undoubtedly made me a more efficient writer. As an academic, now studying my Master's, I notice the differences in the way I studied as an undergraduate student compared to now. Not all are positive.

In this particular room, discussing the software space, AI was touted as something we couldn't and shouldn't ignore. The possibilities of it were to be experienced, and with a human still in the loop, it was no different than adapting to the TV or the Internet back in the day.

One person even said, "When the TV came out, people were worried about letting the devil in. Has he come in?"

The room laughed, and I did too. Sure, the devil had indeed not been let into our realm through the invention of television. Well, in the eyes of most people anyway. But with AI, we're not worrying about who we're letting in. We should be worried about a few things, but mainly who is in control.

Because the inventors of television and broadcast are not the same people in charge of the biggest AI companies in the world, like OpenAI and Anthropic. The creators of the Internet – Vinton Cerf, Bob Kahn, Tim Berners-Lee – are not Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, or Elon Musk. We're not letting the devil in with AI, but – and I'll let you do some inferring here – there is something to be said when AI is controlled and governed by a select group of untouchable tech billionaires.

Then there's every other implication that comes with AI. I most commonly hear that AI is making us more efficient at our jobs, and that it's helping us complete things faster. It's tied to the notion of progress, but the most important thing to remember about progress is that it is not linear and it is not always positive.

I think of the way AI helps me do my job, the way it has transformed customer service, and the way it's helping to advance healthcare and research. And then I think of the way it discourages human connectivity, critical thinking, and the exploration of hardship or emotion. The way it fosters isolation and diminishes the need for person-to-person contact. The way it makes people fear for their jobs, skills, and livelihoods.

That's before you even get into the environmental stresses. Thankfully, we all seemed to share the same opinions on these impacts, and on things like data centres and water usage. But it always went back to the same thing – the way the pros outweighed the cons, and that AI could be used to solve those issues.

Now, this is what I find harsh to say and even to write, but I found myself frustrated at that constant belief. The thing to come back to. Because all these minds were bright, with years and years of experience – many of whom had been working in this field longer than I have been alive – I couldn't help but think, ultimately, it's not your problem to solve.

By the time we reach crunch time with AI – either through water scarcity, climate impacts, or something else – these minds and visionaries will have retired.

Or, more callously, they'll be dead.

This will be a problem for my generation to solve. I find myself thinking, well, if our roles were reversed, I too would be excited at the prospect of a technology that could make my job easier. Sure, the costs of it are not something to ignore, but why worry about that now?

I get upset at our collective comfort. I am no stranger to this; I am a part of this problem. My impact is nowhere near as great as those of the world's greediest, hungriest, and dirtiest leaders, but I still have an impact. I have a voice, and I want to do good with it. I want my thoughts to be my own, and my work to be my own.

I want to live in a world where we do use technology for good. I am not afraid of AI; in fact, quite the opposite. I am fascinated by it, and excited about what it can do. Excited about its potential to progress us as a species.

But I cannot ignore what it costs us and our planet. I wish I had more answers. I only know that knowledge is power, and that being informed about this is about the most important thing you could prioritise at the moment. This isn't a tech issue – it's a human issue, and the more of us that can understand this, the better.