Tech Talk: To AI or Not to AI—Some Pros and Cons
Narration provided by Wondervox
By Mark McNease
It feels increasingly like something we can’t get away from even if we want to.
As someone who embraces technology I think it’s important to consider the ongoing controversies surrounding AI (artificial intelligence). Forms of it have been around for a long time. Rudimentary applications have been used in everything from self-checkout kiosks in grocery stores, to voice activation and automatic teller machines (ATMs). And now it’s being introduced—imposed?—in ways we often don’t want, from typing Word documents with annoying AI ‘assistants’ popping up on the page,’ to emails and texts that insist on writing themselves. It feels increasingly like something we can’t get away from even if we want to.
As a one-man production studio, I consider AI a tool that helps me accomplish my goals and maintain an output. I would never ‘write’ a novel with AI, but I use it to generate images and to do the sorts of research I used to perform online with key words and a Wikipedia page. It’s my responsibility to make sure that information is correct, but the hunting and gathering is made tremendously easier with AI. I also find the technology exciting in many ways. I don’t think we will ever be replaced by AI, or even if that would be such a bad thing for the planet, but there is a lot of fear around it.
AI has been another technological revolution in our lifetimes, even an industrial revolution in many ways. That means change, and change brings fear. So let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of AI and its uses. While I sometimes bristle at what I consider AI’s intrusion into our lives, I also know it’s not going away. I can choose to ride that wave and make the best of it, while maintaining a necessary skepticism with all things AI.
Pros of AI
Increased Efficiency and Productivity
AI systems can process vast amounts of data quickly and accurately, automating repetitive tasks and reducing human error. This boosts productivity (yes!) and allows people to focus on more strategic and creative activities. It’s incumbent on those using it to make sure that the information it provides is accurate (and those consuming the information to keep a certain distance from it—if it doesn’t seem true, it may not be, and if it reads like it was written by a robot, it probably was).
Innovation and New Capabilities
AI drives innovation across various fields—medical diagnostics, autonomous vehicles, natural language processing, and more—opening up new opportunities and transforming traditional industries.
Cost Savings
Automation reduces the need for manual labor, cuts operational costs, and improves service delivery, which can lead to significant financial benefits for businesses.
About that Enhanced Productivity
This is especially relevant to me as a writer and content creator. Not too long ago I would spend time researching and verifying information online (such as, “What were the top 10 songs on the radio in 1982?” for a story, or looking up the history of a location where a character came from). Now I can use AI to provide that information in seconds, then verify it quickly and re-write it.
Budgetary Concerns
As an author, publisher and content provider, I have no significant budget. I cannot afford to hire a ‘real’ human being to narrate blogs posts and articles or fiction, or hire a graphic artist for images or even book covers. I am not putting anyone out of work I could not have hired in the first place. The exceptions for me are novels and audiobooks: I will not do either with AI. I only produce audio versions of some fiction that I can post on a website or use as a podcast. I respect professional narrators too much (and have hired several) to contribute to their unemployment. Speaking of which …
Cons of Using AI
Job Displacement and Unemployment
Automation and AI-driven processes can replace roles traditionally performed by humans, leading to concerns over job losses and economic disparities.
Bias and Discrimination
AI models learn from existing data, which can contain biases. If not carefully managed, this can perpetuate or even amplify societal biases.
Privacy Concerns
AI often relies on large amounts of personal data, raising issues about user privacy, data security, and potential misuse of information. It can also be accused of plagiarism and intellectual property theft—it indiscriminately scans everything online and can ‘learn’ using copyrighted content.
Dependence and Loss of Skills
Overreliance on AI can lead to skill degradation among workers, as machines take over tasks that require human judgment and expertise. NOTE: I’ve often pointed out that authors, artists and others who consider what they do elevated above the masses, that no one seems to mourn cashiers who were put out of work by the use of self-checkout, or mechanics who were negatively impacted by AI in the auto industry. Personal convenience seems to be a marker of people’s acceptance of this technology.
Ethical and Moral Dilemmas
The deployment of AI raises questions about accountability, transparency, and moral implications—particularly in sensitive areas like autonomous weapons or decision-making in healthcare.
The bottom line for me is that AI has already been part of our lives for years, it was just too low-level and integrated into tasks we never associated with it before. You don’t generally think of AI when you’re pressing buttons on a phone to get to one department or another. Now that the technology seems to be everywhere, all the time, we’ve become wary of it, perhaps worried it will soon replace us! But that will never happen—there is only one you—so my advice is to stay aware of the changes, master the ones you can, and don’t be afraid.
