Recently, a 4th-year student of the Journalism major at the National University of Ostroh Academy approached me as a specialist in algorithms and artificial intelligence. As part of her internship, she is preparing a journalistic article about the impact of artificial intelligence on education and everyday life and asked me to answer a few questions as an expert in this field.
She was interested in the following questions:
- How, in my opinion, does artificial intelligence affect education and work today?
- What opportunities does the use of artificial intelligence open up for people?
- Are there any risks or problems associated with the use of artificial intelligence?
- How has people’s attitude towards artificial intelligence changed in recent years?
- In which areas will artificial intelligence have the greatest impact in the future?
- What advice can I give people about using artificial intelligence?
Below I present my detailed answers to these questions.
The answer to the first question: how do you think artificial intelligence is affecting learning and work today?
I deliberately divide this question into two parts – the impact on learning and the impact on work, because these areas are significantly different.
Impact on learning
If we talk about learning, I believe that today artificial intelligence affects it more negatively than positively. Learning is, first of all, the process of gaining experience. It is not just receiving information, but the formation of one’s own thinking, the ability to analyze, draw conclusions, doubt and check.
Artificial intelligence, if you understand its nature, is a large language model (LLM). That is, it is a linguistic, conversational model, not thinking. And this must be clearly understood. Modern artificial intelligence is an assistant tool that can make mistakes. It cannot make decisions on its own and does not generate ideas in a human sense. It uses those solutions and ideas that were created by people and published on the network.
Today, the basis for training such models is mainly text data, although video and audio materials are already being actively analyzed. However, ideas, concepts, and approaches to solving problems are still created by people. And people, as we know, can make mistakes. Artificial intelligence itself does not have an expert opinion and cannot have one due to the very principle of its creation.
Therefore, when a person studies and uses artificial intelligence as the main source of information, instead of analyzing several textbooks or different sources, everything can go wrong. If the model is wrong, and the student does not have enough experience to recognize this, he can uncritically accept these statements, draw false conclusions, memorize unreliable material and actually not learn what is correct and valid. As a result, instead of development, there is a simplification of thinking.
I even believe that the use of artificial intelligence in education without understanding its nature can lead to degradation. A person ceases to independently analyze, compare, and verify information.
Impact on work
As for work, the situation is different here. If a person is an expert in his field, artificial intelligence can become a very good assistant. First of all, it saves time. It is no longer just about text, but also about images, videos, process automation, robotics – all this is actively developing.
It is important to understand that the main strength of a language model lies in the ability to recognize the meaning and logical connections between words. That is why this technology has spread so quickly: it is able to interpret tasks, understand word combinations, the meaning of instructions. This, in particular, helps in training robots: they can recognize the type of object, determine what can be done with it, and act in accordance with the task.
I have been working with algorithms for 15 years and I can say that we are now going through a transition stage from classic, simpler algorithms to large language models. This process cannot be stopped anymore – this is our future. But at the same time, you need to be very careful, especially for those who are just starting to use these tools.
I am convinced that basic concepts about the nature of artificial intelligence need to be introduced into curricula now. This is necessary so that society does not degrade either in education or in work.
Degradation is also possible in professional activities, especially in low-skilled positions, where people begin to rely on artificial intelligence even where it is not necessary. Due to a certain laziness or because it is easier, the tool is used without understanding the limits of its application. The lack of diversification in the use of artificial intelligence in work can negatively affect the quality of the result.
I can say this as a person who analyzes communication in work chats. Many people rely on the answers of artificial intelligence. And if there were no experts in these chats who are able to check and correct these answers, wrong decisions could be made. At the same time, I believe that the level of expertise of people can gradually decrease precisely because of excessive dependence on artificial intelligence.
Even in such productive areas as image or video creation, in inept hands these tools can negatively affect the quality and professional development of the performer.
Therefore, in general, I believe that today the impact of artificial intelligence in education is more negative, and in work – positive, provided that it is used by an expert and clearly understands its limitations
An important note about the use of artificial intelligence
I want to separately note an important point. I create this text with the help of artificial intelligence. But fundamentally, it does not write the text for me. I dictate my thoughts, explain how I want the material to be structured, and the tool only forms a more orderly version of the presentation. I always reread the text and set a rule in advance: the content cannot be changed, each of my thoughts must be conveyed accurately.
In this format, artificial intelligence really helps. I do not type the text manually – and instead of 20 minutes, I spend about 3 minutes. This is a real acceleration of work and increased efficiency.
However, at the beginning of our interaction, the tool began to answer my questions for me. And I stopped it. I said directly: you do not need to answer for me and impose your position or generate something based on information from the Internet. I explained that I am an expert and I want to express my opinion.
But the trend itself is indicative: the system is trying to replace a person. And this, in my opinion, is one of the key problems. If the process is not controlled, AI can start to take a position instead of a person, rather than being their tool. That is why it is important to clearly understand the line between assistance and replacement.
The answer to the question: what opportunities does artificial intelligence open up?
I believe that the emergence of artificial intelligence is a global change. I would compare it to the invention of electricity. This is a transformation of such a scale that it is radically changing the world and the way people live.
Despite the fact that in the previous answer I spoke about the risks and even see some negativity today, historically this has always happened: when new technologies appear, people first relax, begin to abuse them or use them superficially. But a person is a creature that strives for development. We gradually adapt to new conditions, learn to use tools correctly, and over time they become an organic part of our lives.
The same was the case with television, with the Internet, with mobile communications. The same will happen with artificial intelligence. At the level of governments, scientists and society in general, appropriate conclusions, regulations and rules will appear. I do not think that this technology will destroy the world – although, of course, no one can know this for sure. However, I am inclined to believe that we will learn to control it and regulate its use.
At the same time, I also see serious risks. This is a danger to people’s consciousness and to security in general. Artificial intelligence is already used in military technology. And the more deadly weapons become, the greater the consequences for humanity can be. And this is an aspect that cannot be ignored.
If we talk about the possibilities, they are enormous.
I think that in the coming years we will see:
- the development of home assistants and androids;
- the mass introduction of virtual assistants;
- rapid progress in automatically controlled transport;
the creation of analytical systems that can monitor critical indicators of technology and warn in advance about malfunctions – for example, in complex mechanisms or aviation.
The potential of these models is so great that most people, in my opinion, do not even realize at what stage of development we are. Relatively speaking, yesterday we were “lighting candles”, and today we are already “screwing in a light bulb”. And many do not understand the scale of the transition.
Of course, most of us will not see the distant future in a hundred or two hundred years. But we will definitely see the next 50 years, and this is enough to understand: artificial intelligence has already become a part of our lives.
I also see great opportunities in the field of industry – in the creation of large machines that will design and produce other machines. This becomes possible precisely thanks to the development of algorithms and artificial intelligence systems.
The only thing that can significantly limit this progress is the resource limitations of our planet. However, I suggest that artificial intelligence can also help in solving this problem: finding alternative materials, optimizing the use of resources, looking for new technological solutions in the “bottlenecks” that are currently hindering development.
I would like to separately note the role of science. Scientists have also gained this tool at their disposal, and it helps them work faster, analyze more data, accelerate research and make discoveries. If you compare the technological development of the last 20 years with the previous 20 years, you can see an almost geometric progression of change. And artificial intelligence is one of the key drivers of this acceleration.
The answer to the question: are there risks and problems associated with the use of artificial intelligence?
Yes, there are certainly risks. I have already mentioned some of them before, but here I want to formulate them more systematically.
The first serious risk is the use of artificial intelligence in military technology. The integration of such systems into weapons increases their effectiveness and, accordingly, their potential lethality. And the more technological weapons become, the more extensive the consequences of their use can be.
The second risk is the gradual dependence of people on these systems. I am not talking about a full-fledged autonomous artificial intelligence that independently makes decisions and determines the fate of a person. Today’s systems still remain dependent tools that only expand human capabilities. However, even in this form they can form behavioral dependence.
I see the biggest problems in the near future – in the coming years. And they are connected not so much with technology as such, but with society’s reaction to it. There is a risk that a significant part of people will relax, especially at the basic, lowest levels of professional or educational training. People with an average level of training will start to rely too much on artificial intelligence and stop developing their own thinking.
This is especially true in the educational process. If a person gets used to receiving ready-made answers without analyzing them, without checking them and without trying to figure it out on their own, this stops their development. This is where I see one of the key risks – not in the technology itself, but in how it is used.
So the main problem is not that artificial intelligence is already an uncontrolled autonomous force, but in the fact that people can voluntarily reduce their own thinking activity and responsibility for decision-making. And this, in my opinion, is the closest and most real threat.
The answer to the question: how has people’s attitude towards artificial intelligence changed in recent years?
In my opinion, the period of surprise has already passed. At first, when these tools became widely available, there was a wave of excitement, a certain shock at the possibilities they demonstrate. Now we are in the stage of adaptation and acceptance.
People are gradually integrating artificial intelligence into their daily lives and work. Many see it as an opportunity to earn more, increase their own productivity, transfer some of the routine work to systems and focus on more important or strategic tasks. Because of this, the general attitude today is more positive than negative.
So far, there have been no global disasters or large-scale problems directly caused by the use of artificial intelligence. This also affects public perception – people do not see serious negative consequences in everyday life, so the level of trust is growing.
At the same time, I assume that with the increasing integration of these systems into critical areas – transport, infrastructure, energy, defense – certain incidents or serious problems may still arise. This is almost inevitable for any large-scale technology.
But in general, the process is already underway. This development cannot be stopped, and society is gradually moving from an emotional reaction to a pragmatic use of artificial intelligence as a tool.
The answer to the question: in which areas will artificial intelligence have the greatest impact in the future?
I have already partially talked about this, but if we systematize it, then, in my opinion, the impact will be large-scale and practically comprehensive. It is impossible to single out just one area, but there are areas where this impact will be especially noticeable.
First of all, this is engineering and mechanical engineering. Large-scale production processes, the design of complex systems, the optimization of structures – all this is already beginning to change under the influence of artificial intelligence. In 10-15 years, factories will be able to produce more, more efficiently and with fewer errors. This applies to both heavy engineering and light industry.
Of course, computer technology and programming are the basic areas of influence. Artificial intelligence is already having a huge impact on software development. In fact, everything in the world today is somehow connected with IT, and artificial intelligence itself is a computer technology. Therefore, it is here that we will see many rapid breakthroughs.
Robotics is worth highlighting separately. The combination of language models with physical systems opens a new stage in the development of autonomous machines that are capable of performing complex tasks, interacting with objects and the environment.
There will also be a significant impact on medicine and the healthcare sector. Already today, there are examples of diagnosing various diseases using artificial intelligence systems. The model can process huge data sets and highlight important patterns. At the same time, the final decision should be made by a person – a doctor or an expert with appropriate competence. That is, the system acts as a support tool that helps improve the quality of the analysis.
So far, implementation in medicine is relatively slow, but given the volume of investments in this area, development will be inevitable.
A significant impact is also expected in the military, transport, large technological processes, and possibly in the space industry. In transport, these may include autonomous control systems and security analytics. In industry, automation of complex production cycles.
I would like to emphasize science in particular. Artificial intelligence is already helping researchers analyze large amounts of information, speed up calculations, and find patterns that humans would find difficult to detect on their own. This will also become one of the key drivers of development.
Therefore, I would not single out just one area. In fact, the impact will be systemic: from IT and engineering to medicine, transport, science, and industry. And this process has already started – it is practically impossible to stop it.
Answering the question: What advice can you give people about using artificial intelligence?
The most important advice is to ask questions. Ask yourself: why does it work this way? How does it work? Why is it called a large language model? What does each of these words mean? It is with such basic questions that understanding begins.
You need to understand the principles of how these technologies work. At a minimum, read about them and try to understand their basis. If a person asks himself these questions, even with the help of artificial intelligence itself, this is a different level of interaction. This is no longer blind use, but conscious.
The question of choosing a specific model, which of them does what better or worse, which has fewer or more limitations, is already a deeper level of knowledge. But everyone should have a basic understanding today. For example, I will definitely explain it to my child. Because this is already part of the future.
Historically, it has always been this way: a new technology appears – and those parents who explain its essence to their children, who have figured it out themselves and have competence, actually give their children an advantage. If we draw an analogy with the advent of electricity, then people who understood the principle of its operation and the potential for application objectively had more opportunities than those who did not understand this.
The same here. This is a key technology in the development of humanity. Even if a person does not plan to connect his future directly with IT or artificial intelligence, over the next 20 years these technologies will have such a profound impact on all aspects of life that they cannot be ignored. If parents completely let this issue go, a big gap arises. Of course, a child can become interested on his own, but a lot depends on adults.
Therefore, the key word is understanding. And here it is important to literally break everything down into terms and clarify the meaning of words. Why exactly “model”? Why exactly “linguistic”? What does it actually do? What are the principles of its operation? I have already said before that today it does not generate ideas in human understanding, but works with available data. But technologies are developing, and this also needs to be monitored.
It is impossible to let this topic go today. It is about the same as with politics: if you are not interested in politics, it still affects you. The same with artificial intelligence – even if a person is not interested in it, it will still gradually affect his life. That is why awareness and understanding are the best strategy.
