Artificial “Intelligence”
AI is portrayed as a revolutionary savior but it’s a looming threat. A threat to art, humanity, ethics and the environment. With the increase in data productions, there has been a massive increase in the accessibility of AI chatbots and AI resources; With the increase in their usage, the simulations have earnt societal trust. When something is painted in pretty colours and awe-inspiring trends and offered to us, it’s hard to see past what it’s made to be and what it truly is.
Artificial Intelligence was created to analyze massive amounts of data, detect patterns, and generate responses based on what it’s been fed. In 2025, AI-specific data centers emitted as much carbon emissions as the city of New York (33 million — 80 million tons of carbon dioxide) and used more water than the bottled water industry with its evaporative cooling systems. These numbers are easy to skip over, but the impact it has on our planet is not.
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It has been enforced numerous times that AI is destroying our critical thinking and creativity, yet, everyone turns a blind eye to it. We’re replacing the human brain, the very thing that created this revolution, with silence. We’re trading human experiences for an easy illusion. Using AI to make every small decision because it “knows better,” because it’s easier, because we’re told that advancing technology means doing life right — what does that leave us with? What about advancing as a society? We consume “AI slop” and become active participants in destroying nature, and destroying our souls.
A new trend has emerged once again, “AI art”. But how can AI make art? It has no soul, it has no emotion, it hasn’t experienced love or pain. That’s a breach of ethics. Art is expression, there’s a heart behind it that feels something and has something to say. AI cannot make art, it cannot be called art, it’s made from a bunch of algorithms and stolen work of soulful artists. Generative AI involves an unethical kind of labour theft and it waters down the human spirit.
Humankind now chases AI like that’s the goal, like how it used to chase perfection. Mess, struggle, imperfection don’t have value anymore. We’ve worked so hard to bring AI to the top and now we’re underground. We stand at a crossroad today. Do we start using our brains and embrace the imperfection of truly working, or do we continue to destroy civilization? Or maybe we’ll ask ChatGPT what it thinks and burn at the earth’s core.
— Written by Varshini Appana
