By Aidan Stacy
Artificial Intelligence has become a growing tool used by students and professionals to help assist them in their academic, professional, and personal lives, but there are also some concerns about the new technology as it continues to develop.
As AI continues to grow in its knowledge and capabilities, aspects of humans’ lives could be upset. The economy and positions in the workforce are at risk of being affected or replaced by AI. The way that people travel and communicate will also be affected by the updates made to AI.
In recent years, AI has risen in popularity in schools amongst students, who use it for help with their schoolwork. In the long term, there are unanswered questions among professionals about what it is capable of.
“I’ve had professors who have given assignments where we’ve been told to use AI to complete it,” said Marketing Senior Olivia Akers. “It feels so wrong using it, and it feels even more wrong when a professor says that they’ve used it.”
AI platforms like ChatGPT have adopted skills to perform daily tasks and answer questions, leading to humans being replaced by it. For students graduating with undergraduate degrees who plan on entering the workforce, AI could make finding those entry-level jobs challenging.
One of the tasks that ChatGPT will do is create graphics and images.
Sarah Ballard is a graphic design major who is graduating this May from Georgia Southern University.
“You can tell when something is done by AI,” Sarah Ballard said. “The graphics all have a consistent look.”
Ballard isn’t worried that AI is going to take any future job she gets in graphic design, even though it is one of the skills AI platforms can produce.
“I don’t think that the graphics are up to professional standard,” Ballard said. “It doesn’t compare to what a human can spend time making.”
An article published by Southern New Hampshire University quoted the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. They projected that by 2034, the top 5 most projected jobs to get replaced by AI are administrative support workers, cashiers, customer support representatives, data entry keyers, and office clerks.
Online platforms like ChatGPT aren’t the only kinds of AI that have been introduced to people.
There are a number of different kinds of AI, and some of them are more obvious than others. There are the obvious forms of AI, like self-driving cars.
In certain cities in the United States, people can request self-driving cars on the Uber app. This feature eliminates the need for a driver, leaving the ride completely technologically driven. This means there is no need for human interaction.
If AI tools like self-driving cars branch out into more cities and states across the United States, communication skills that people have could decrease in the long run, with the limited exposure to people.
Another form of AI is Grammarly. Grammarly is an online tool that uses AI to correct people’s grammar and spelling errors as they are writing. These tasks are often completed by copyeditors. Students at Georgia Southern University have free accounts when they sign up through their school emails.
Not only is AI beginning to replace some humans in the workforce, but employers are using it in the hiring process. Some businesses use AI to complete the first round of interviews for potential employees looking to be hired. Questions will be sent out, and interviewees record their answers, and the answers are automatically sent in once the video is stopped.
One example of this is HireVue. On this platform, interviewees have an option to answer timed practice questions and complete assessments mid-interview.
While some roles may seem threatened by the growth of AI, there are other careers that are more secure.
According to the US Career Institute, the jobs with the lowest percentage of getting replaced by AI are nurse practitioners, choreographers, and physician assistants.
“Artificial Intelligence will never be able to teach students in post-secondary education how to be a nurse or a doctor,” said Natalie Charton, a senior nursing student. “Those kinds of jobs will never be at risk of being replaced by AI.”
Students trying to find entry-level jobs will be directly affected by the rise of AI, but it isn't just the students who need to worry.
With the effect that AI could have on the job market, the economy will be affected as well.
Reagan Voelp is graduating with her master’s degree in accounting.
“When people are employed and are making a steady income, then they’ll be spending more money on consumer goods,” said Voelp.