Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a part of everyday life for some people. It’s used for online searches, apps, games, and learning tools. While some people believe AI can help improve the world, others are concerned about how quickly it is growing and how it may affect people and nature.
“Water in data centers is evaporated for cooling, and although it returns to the atmosphere, it still depletes local freshwater supplies,” according to the online article “Teaching the Environmental Impact of AI Through PBL” on the Edutopia website.
Aside from water conservation concerns, some students at Patrick M. Villano School worry about academics.
“I feel nervous about how fast AI is growing because sometimes people use AI for things that they shouldn’t use AI for,” Hailey Ciavaglia, a fifth-grader, said. “If kids use AI for cheating on a test, then they won’t pass fairly.”
Ciavaglia also shared her thoughts about how technology affects time spent outdoors.
“I think people do not spend as much time as they should in nature because they spend too much time on screens and doing stuff inside rather than going outside and relaxing,” she said.
Other students acknowledge cheating can be an issue, but they believe AI can help people and improve the future.
“I feel that AI is moving really fast, and it can affect in different ways and good ways,” Aarna Domadia said. “It can advance things that humans could never do that will help our world, but people can cheat on a test.”
According to the website FunKids, predicting weather is one advantage of AI. Also, some AI drones can keep track of endangered animals so humans can help, if needed.
“Unfortunately I think AI will have a bigger impact than nature because it can help us way more than nature can,” Domadia said. “AI can help us evolve in a different way, while nature just helps us breathe and stay alive.”
