The impact OpenAI has on modern society really opens my eyes whenever I try to make sense of it with my own everyday understanding. And as I acknowledge myself as a vigilant observer of the phenomenon where ChatGPT substitutes brain instead of assisting it, this is the moment I would like to publicly debut with my unpopular opinion that, unfortunately, people are getting dumber and I mean it with all of my heart.
Not that long ago, I have been called by my old friend from high school a Luddite, after I told him ,”I haaaaate AI” (the amount of “a’s” was supposed to highlight the severity of my hatred) in reply to the question whether I use some sort of Artificial Intelligence to improve my academic performance. If someone was sleeping at the history lesson, Luddism was a 19th century movement of textile workers who opposed the use of machines, due to worry that those machines would take their jobs. And so, at first I laughed, but then I thought to myself that maybe history repeats itself and I am part of some resistance movement which is definitely a minority in today’s world. But honestly, I cannot stand the fact that people open ChatGPT before they even try to read the whole task to be solved – why don’t you want to challenge yourself first? AI assistance will be there for you as a plan B, always. But give your ability to think a damn chance.
And as I am really trying to convince myself that AI can be a good work partner if you want to accelerate the purely technical parts of your job or familiarize yourself with the field you are off the boat with, my hope just weakens when I hear: “You are writing your columns yourself? I would’ve used ChatGPT.” But at this point, I take it as a compliment. And, if you are as old-fashioned with technology as I am, treat this column as a love letter to your intellect – because your intelligence will always be real, not artificial.
Rita Wiśniewska, third-year European Law student