As Artificial Intelligence continues to expand into new realms, many people are becoming more and more skeptical and worried about where they fit into a primarily technological future. While the new explorations can be nerve-wracking, many are also extremely interested and excited. Several innovations in AI include chatbots, social media, navigation systems, reasoning engines, and many more. 

Because of AI, everyday life has been made much more convenient and enjoyable for mostly everybody. These new developments can be used in a positive or negative way. It all depends on how far creators and coders are willing to go. Mr. Soviero, a computer science teacher at the Upper School, claims that “Where there is money to be made, people aren’t going to be stopped. Unless it comes to things like laws that are passed to prevent things. Take a look at stem cell research for instance and cloning. Cloning is done all of the time in the animal world for livestock, but there’s the fact that human cloning is not done despite how we are probably technologically advanced enough to pull it off. I think if there is money to be made, people’s morals go out of the window.”

In terms of finance, there are many questions being asked about the possibilities in the future of AI. Market analysts are becoming less and less necessary because of the amount of intelligence that is being computerized. One major question being asked in the finance world right now is will AI be able to predict the market accurately in the future? This question has many layers and is not simple to answer. However, the limits of AI are unknown in any sector. These limits are also unknown in the sense of how far humans are willing to go to extend the reach of AI. The concerns surrounding artificial intelligence are unwavering and consistently growing as the capabilities of computers only increase. 

It is evident that with AI assistance, firms will be able to reduce trade errors, trigger trades at the best prices, customize accounts easier, and recommend investments based on risk patience. “People see automation as something that is typically only looked at as taking away unskilled laborers and blue-collar jobs. It is starting to get into sectors of you know stockbrokers and predictions of markets” says Soviero.

For finance specifically, algorithms, analysts, research, and investigations are the most important part of being successful in this world. If a computer is able to accomplish all of these tasks, even better than humans, where does that leave the workforce? In a world with as much innovation as this one, where will people draw the line? Is it when they are officially replaced? Is it when no human contact is even needed for a prosperous and thriving community? All of these questions are unknown to everyone, even to the creators of AI. As technology expands, many careers are put at risk and are being sent to extinction.

Other jobs like lawyers, tractor drivers, and endless others are all part of this worry about the future. The computer science teacher explains “With Lawyers, there is a lot of legal contract writing that can be looked at by AI and corrected by AI. I think AI being sophisticated enough to create documents that really pass the test of looking like they were written by an actual person is amazing. The advent of self-driving cars and their abilities are also beyond amazing. They have self-driving Tesla tractor trailers that go through areas with highways and follow traffic patterns.”

Soviero offers another way to look at the situation. “There are a lot of jobs that are going to be made in terms of writing all of the AI scripts. I do think the downside to all of this are all of the jobs that are being taken, but that’s the way that innovation is for anything” he clarifies.

Within the English department, the new invention of Chat GPT, is stirring up some conversation. Ninth grade English teacher, Mrs. McCambridge sees it in the way that “It’s going to make an impact on the way teachers instruct, but it doesn’t have to be a negative impact. We in fact could use it to differentiate instruction or to further enhance our classroom planning.”

In case students were wondering, McCambridge states that it actually is identifiable if a student decides to use the program. Chat GPT brings a moral dilemma to the student body. If a student makes the choice to use the program, it goes against the Honor Code because it is not their personal work. 

Mrs. McCambridge puts it in simple terms, “I’ve had it come up before and you can tell, at this point. I’m not sure if there is a program that you can send it through at this point, there might be, but I know that Turn It In is working on that. I can tell if it is used, at least as a literature instructor.”

Turnitin has very recently put out a new program in which they are able to detect a ChatGPT originated statement. This program is said to be 98% accurate while detecting ChatGPT which will put many teachers at ease when they have to analyze a student’s work to check for plagiarism.

The overarching point is that Artificial Intelligence is so advanced in today’s world that it constantly raises moral dilemmas. This struggle affects everyone whether they know it or not. That is true because of the many different uses of AI that people forget about, including e-payment, social media, recommendation algorithms, facial recognition, financial fraud detection, and self-driving cars. It is almost impossible to avoid using AI in the modern world. So, it is extremely important for everyone to understand what it is and how to properly use these programs.