3 Things to Consider with AI + Technology
I grew up with technology that grew up with me. Where kids today start getting iPads and screens before they’re forming real words, I was forced to play with toys and use my imagination in order to occupy my mind. The technology I grew up with was constantly evolving because developers were still learning. They were trying to figure out how to make a clunky, Windows 98 desktop a little smaller. Technology for me was about making life easier while not replacing human function.
There was internet skepticism and irritation with computers as claims that computers would replace factory workers across the country. Well, in 2025, we know that didn’t exactly happen. While factories across the country didn’t shut down as automation became a thing, society had to adjust as did the jobs market. “Computers aren’t going anywhere, you have to adjust and evolve and pivot.
That’s what is being said to me when I argue against the usage of AI. “AI isn’t going anywhere.” Essentially, I have to figure out how to make AI work for me in my business model, allowing me to expand, while needing to show that I’m more useful than the AI system. Since the start of AI involved writing, it can feel like a personal attack.
Penmanship was eliminated as a subject and replaced with typing classes and learning how to work Microsoft Word (or Apple Pages). I love technology and I love when things can make my life easier. Dishwashers? As the girl whose mom would use the dishwasher as towel storage and had to hand wash every dish, dishwashers are a great technological advancement. I still can’t get around AI, no matter how many people tell me I should just adjust and learn how to utilize it. I wanted to share three things we should consider with technology and AI.
1. Technology does more harm than good.
There is study upon study showing technology and screens in general are terrible for children. Our response? Ignore the studies, keep the screens (especially in schools) and then we’re shocked and puzzled that we are raising the most anxious teenagers. What can we do? Then, when schools ban phones in class, parents are upset that they cannot reach their “mini-besties.” We don’t read anymore, we doom scroll. There are entire factions of trendy bookstagrams and booktok where the books that are elevated are modern day erotica. Boys are exposed to pornography earlier and earlier, addictions forming before they even hit middle school. Kids today aspire to be influencers or YouTube stars. These are studies we can find on children that paint a terrible picture of what screens do to kids and we don’t take them away. Screens are probably equally as bad for adults, but we all think we have self-control and good habits surrounding our phones. (Most of us don’t and adults are facing their mental health crisis, with more than 1 in 5 adults living with a mental illness.)
2. It will make us stupider. We’re dumber as a society.
Recently, I saw a post from a friend from my childhood on Facebook. She started off her post about her belief in women’s rights and how she loves to share information on why she believes that. To prove her point in advocating for women’s rights and abortion, she decided to ask ChatGPT to come up with points for why this would lead to a better society. Don’t worry though, she really believes in this.
We have officially hit the point where people cannot defend or explain their own beliefs. We have dumbed the general population down to talking points from influencers and talking heads, all repeated by those who identify or relate to the things they have said. There is no reason for why these beliefs are held, and if you push on a reason, they need to consult with AI. There is no critical thinking. Logical fallacies are running rampant and nobody catches them. Civil discourse is a concept of yesteryear. You can’t have a difference of ideas of beliefs without it becoming a personal attack.
Less than 50% of adults have the literacy rate of a 6th grader. In the world, the US ranks 36th in literacy. Children’s literacy rates are equally terrifying, with over 30% of 4th graders below basic reading levels.
Instead of intervention, we have made everything else dumb down to meet lower levels and standards. We make accommodations and create technological crutches because we need to push kids and adults through life.
3. We Have Plenty of Examples That Continue to Show Technology Harm
I’m not even talking about real life here. I’m talking about movies. There is an entire movie franchise (what is Terminator) that showcases the problems with robots. There’s a movie from the 2000’s called iRobot that had millennials convinced that robots, while a far off idea, might not be the best invention. Of course, we got older and AI made writing emails easier so we’re forgetting about that.
There’s a lesser known movie called The Circle. It was one of Emma Watson’s first movies after Harry Potter and it was a take on social media and how invasive it was. The ending of the movie still haunts me. It got terrible reviews but I still think everybody should watch it. It gives you a lot to think about.
As a society, we used to want all the privacy. We would be skeptical of people asking for something as basic as our birthday outside of a doctor’s office. Now, we enter all sorts of identifying information just to get an app on our phone. We make jokes and Instagram videos joking about personal FBI agents that watch our internet activity.
Most people know about spam calls and know how to avoid them. What about when code can be hidden on a document or an image, working in the background of an AI model that takes your information, or starts recording you and what is on your screen? What happens when AI is used to create images that aren’t real but appear real and are used for blackmail?
In the words of Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jurassic Park) Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.
That’s what we should be asking: Should we be doing this? Should we be allowing AI to evolve and enter our lives like this?