The Effects of AI

By: Coco Yung

Introduction

AI, or Artificial Intelligence, allows machines to carry out tasks that need human-like thinking, such as learning, solving problems, and making choices. Imagine learning at school where your teachers and classmates are all robots and the work tasks are fully automated. This isn’t a dream anymore, it’s the reality that AI has become a part of our lives. With increasing AI adoption, it makes our lives easier. In this article, we will examine the impacts of AI on different aspects: health, ways of living, relationships, study, work and economy.

Health

First of all, AI can help monitor human’s health. For example, AI helps track the heart rate and how many steps humans walk, which can promote health management. AI can help give a warning if the human’s heart rate is too fast or if the human has already walked too many steps without a break. At the same time, humans may get health advice from AI. Some medical problems can be diagnosed easily with the help of AI, too. It surely improves the medical conditions of humans in the long term.

Ways of Living

Smart home devices and AI assistants contribute a lot to our daily lives. A lot of appliances, such as lights, air-conditioners or rice cookers, can be controlled remotely and automatically. It allows automating tasks and increases efficiency. Moreover, it helps to reduce energy consumption. Home cameras, smart locks and alarm systems are used for enhancing home security. People can monitor the properties remotely and even keep their pets safe at home. Some devices like smart speakers, can play music and give voice commands. It is very convenient.

Relationships

Nowadays, we do not like writing letters to friends or making phone calls. Instead, we often use AI-driven communication tools to interact with one another. To a certain extent, it is very convenient, but it may potentially reduce depth in conversations and emotional connections. Social media platforms are an essential part of social life, especially for the young generations. They provide a broader social network for people, but may lead to isolation in real life. Face-to-face interaction may also decline. The use of AI may lead to trust issues as people can easily use fake personal information, and it is difficult to detect. It has negative impacts on human relationships.

Study

AI is excellent for getting ideas for assignments. For example, it can help you by giving useful ideas for writing. When you are lost and don’t have many ideas, AI is the best tool to help with that. AI is also good for correcting mistakes. It helps with grammar, punctuation, and even making your work more professional. AI is always ready to help you like a teacher. You can access it anytime, anywhere. Learning does not only happen at school, but also at home. Although there are many advantages of using AI, it still has some bad impacts on us in terms of learning. Students tell AI to do most of the work for them. It may hinder students from developing their creativity. AI also discourages students from developing problem-solving skills, as all the steps and solutions are provided. Most importantly, it brings to the problem of plagiarism. More and more students copy and paste directly from AI, pretending as their own work. No matter how convenient and useful AI is, we should never forget the importance of integrity.

Work

AI is as wise as an owl. It sounds to be an expert in everything, providing advice regarding human resources, risk management, marketing and accounting issues. With the use of AI, humans can reduce the amount of time spent on tasks while enhancing overall efficiency and output. It largely increases productivity. In many workplaces, positions or job duties, like data entry, are being replaced by robotic automation or AI. From the employers’ point of view, it is very efficient and it can significantly lower the cost. As people say, “There's no rose without a thorn.” Even good things in life come with some challenges or downsides. The unemployment rate is increasing as many roles can be performed by robots, resulting in fewer job opportunities for humans.

Economy

As previously stated, AI has the potential to eventually improve human health. The government can lessen its financial burden by spending less on public healthcare when the population is healthier. AI creates new markets and industries through innovations and new services. Innovations and efficiency gains can boost the economy as a whole, which is good for society. Companies may put short-term AI benefits ahead of long-term effects on workers and society. Smaller businesses may find it difficult to compete in a market dominated by large corporations that can afford AI. Working with AI technology may require workers to acquire new skills, and not everyone is familiar with the skills needed.

Conclusion

In summary, the integration of AI in various aspects of life contains both clear advantages and major drawbacks. AI automates time-consuming tasks and helps people become more productive at work. However, the loss of a human touch, fewer job opportunities, and a decline in trust in educational institutions can make the use of AI technology excessively harmful. AI technology becoming more common in our lives is both amazing and worrying. What makes people anxious is whether AI could take control over humans in the near future. We should not neglect the risk of overusing AI.

Rationale:  With increasing AI adoption, it makes our lives easier. In this article, we will examine the impacts of AI on different aspects: health, ways of living, relationships, study, work and economy.

Plastic Oceans

By: Rachel Lam

The ocean waves clash against the cloud-washed azure,

waves roared as life thrived under.

All my life I’ve known the ocean and its quiet nature,

though it was short-lived.

A sudden sense of unfamiliarity washed over me,

I desperately swam towards the surface.

Plastic debris sliced through the atmosphere,

landing with an unstoppable force only one can imagine.

The sun-lit ocean filled with shadows,

as I drowned in my own fears.

A piercing feeling stabbed my back,

I stood trapped, waiting for my impeccable doom.

The bitter waves taunted me,

reaching out with its frigid hands.

Seemingly pushed me around of the ocean surface,

while it leads me beyond my control.

I was surrounded by the place I once called home,

as it beamed with a glance of familiarity one last time,

fractured beyond the reach of time.

I remained helpless as I sank to the ocean floor.

Submerged in despair,

the sky strikes a gleam of hope.

Maybe in another life I shall live,

but for now I shall rest.

Rationale: The aim of my piece is to raise awareness about the harm that plastic pollution causes to marine life. I illustrated how plastic pollution affects wildlife from the perspective of a marine animal, specifically a dolphin. In the first stanza, I describe how plastic pollution wasn’t yet an issue and how marine life thrived. However, as the poem progresses, the issue becomes more and more severe. 

Moreover, this poem shows the audience that what we perceive as harmless can actually cause a lot of harm. I chose to talk about this issue because, over the last 70 years, our plastic consumption has only increased. The accumulation of plastic significantly harms marine animals such as fish, turtles, and seabirds, which either ingest microplastics or become trapped in larger debris like fishing nets, bottles, and packaging materials. Hence, I decided to raise awareness about this issue.

roar

By: Sofia Tsoi