Letters: Don't ignore the benefits of AI

As a junior in high school, I've opened ChatGPT more than any book in the past year. You may be thinking that I use ChatGPT to generate homework answers out of laziness. The artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm has been called "the end of high school English," given its ability to construct full-length essays on any given subject. However, outright rejection of this technology may result in missing out on the potential benefits.

For example, when I was formulating discussion points for my philosophy club, I used ChatGPT to help me organize a few key topics. I reviewed the AI-suggest topics and researched the ones that I thought were relevant. The simplification and organization saved me time and energy to pour into higher-level work such as critical thinking, discussion flow planning, and exploration of relevant topics.

Also, I do not think an algorithm can write a better English assignment than I can. The sentences that ChatGPT generates are cookie-cutter, bland and uninspired. Understandably so, as AI is still in its infancy and much of our schoolwork is nuanced and requires context.

My parents lived through a time when Google gradually replaced libraries as the most efficient source of getting information. With the invention of AI like ChatGPT, the transfer of information can be even more effective. Knowledge is almost instantly synthesized into digestible summaries. Now, our job is to learn to use these nuggets to build our own thinking.

Those who learn how to use AI best will have a huge advantage in the future, because the technologies are efficient, empowering and, like it or not, inevitable.

We are entering the age of AI, but it's not a time when machines rule civilization. Instead, it should be a symbiotic one where humans and technology coexist and build off each other for a better world.

Winston Chu

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