The contentious topic among supporters and detractors of AI has been one that involves its benefit towards humanity: some say it’s ultimately beneficial, while others argue that it does more harm than good to humans at large. Will Depue from OpenAI, makers of ChatGPT, points out that AI will further widen the knowledge gap.
OpenAI Employee Chimes In
In the clip shared by @vitrupo on X, Depue said: “I think the world just gets a lot more extreme. And I think this is just true with AI across the board, where I think the bottom percentile students are gonna fall behind. And I think the top percentile students are just gonna get extremely overpowered. I think if I had this tool as a kid, I would just be like vastly smarter than I am now.” Depue continued, “I think it’s an incredible tool for learning but I think it’s kind of bimodal. I think a lot of people are going to get dumber, I think a lot of people are gonna get smarter.”
Depue’s sentiment isn’t merely anecdotal. Researchers from Microsoft and OpenAI both published studies on the effects of overreliances towards AI, which ultimately leads to worse critical thinking and decision making capabilities, along with loneliness due to emotional attachment towards what is ultimately a chatbot that happens to have natural language capabilities.
Aside from the potential for students to use AI inappropriately in their schoolwork, the dangers of AI is especially apparent today, despite tech companies’ efforts in enforcing guardrails to avoid producing harmful content. Just earlier this week, students and alumni from Foon Yew High School – many of which minors – were subjected to sexual crimes as a result of AI misuse.
Source: Windows Central
Pokdepinion: Definitely a topic worth serious discussions.
