Artificial Intelligence has been developed and improved for years. Every day we see fantastic, new innovations in it that completely subvert our original standards for technology. It’s a great tool that has the workings to benefit society in a number of ways. However, to quote Uncle Ben from the first Spider-man movie, “with great power comes great responsibility.” Unfortunately, great power and great responsibility do not always parallel each other in the human condition, as responsibility’s nemesis is complacency. AI is a powerful tool, much in the same sense that the pen is mightier than the sword, only much more powerful, and much more dangerous in the wrong hands. 

AI continues to have more and more breakthroughs. It’s already proven that it can create super convincing images that can severely harm someone’s image or cause them major distress. Recently, on Twitter(now called X for some reason), a series of AI-generated images were released that depicted pornography of Taylor Swift. This may be an uncomfortable topic for some, but this is important because it serves as a golden example of how damaging AI can be. It’s easy to be apathetic towards the current situation since it’s happening mostly to big celebrities, but something like this could happen to anyone. Who knows, YOU might be the next victim. If not you, then maybe a friend or family member. Ever wanted that dream job? Well, all it takes is someone who resents you and an AI software that can deepfake your face in order to ruin that chance forever. Nobody is safe from AI, and it’s only becoming more dangerous by the day.

Now, AI does have its flaws. There are a few ways to tell if an image is AI generated or not, so AI hasn’t reached perfect image generation yet. However, as previously stated, AI can already create convincing imagery as the result of only a few years of development, so now imagine what it’ll be like many years from now. There’s a theory regarding AI known as the singularity point, which you might have heard refer to other things. In this context, it refers to the point where technology becomes so advanced that it stops being just a tool we use and it becomes an equal mass of entities as compared to the human race, and possibly greater. This would most likely be the result of our constant development of the technology surrounding AI, to the point where we manufacture an algorithm so complex that it can rival the human mind. Something of this magnitude wouldn’t happen for many, many years if even at all, but if this were to happen it would change the human population forever. If not controlled, AI could turn the tables and make us into the tools that they use for personal gain. The only difference is that they’re not alive and we are. 

AI isn’t inherently evil. Just as a gun is a helpful self defense/hunting tool only as dangerous as its holder, AI is a powerful, complex algorithm only as nefarious as the person dictates. However, you can’t hand everyone a gun and expect all of them to use it for good. Human complacency is the independent variable that will affect how the advancement of AI changes us. In summary, AI is a powerful tool, a tool that could either push us to a technological plateau where the possibilities are endless, or become a crisis that could destroy us. Some believe that AI could take jobs away from people who work with their creativity, such as artists, writers, and journalists. While I don’t fully agree with this statement, there’s valid reason to believe in this risk. Hell, people have already started using AI to do schoolwork for them. If AI is already beginning to replace human cognizance, one can only imagine and weep at what lies ahead.