Freedom of Speech in the Hands of A.I.?
photo courtesy of NY Post
By: Elodie Lafortune and Cupido Garcia
Donald J. Trump posted a racially motivated clip depicting the previous President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. His main tool of use? Generative A.I. With the popular release of ChatGPT and various other modules, A.I. has been integrating itself into our daily lives. From allowing us to write essays and creating videos, it has received both praise and criticism from all. But considering the actions of our country's political figures, could it be that this revolutionary technology has become weaponized into a tool of mass destruction?
The use of this technology has skyrocketed in popularity due to tech companies like Google, Microsoft, and Meta. What these companies create is an A.I. software like ChatGPT, which has no limit to the things it can generate; however, should that really be the case? A.I. has already faced controversy due to its environmental impact. Run primarily on drinkable water to cool its systems down, it has caused the general public to face what scientists are now calling a "water bankruptcy.” In short, A.I. draws its source often from underprivileged regions that already face a water crisis. Big Tech companies, however, have no intention of finding renewable energy despite the impacts on the climate, as it keeps costs down. Ken Silverstein reported for Forbes: “In 2023, U.S. data centers consumed an estimated 17 billion gallons of water, according to federal and industry analyses compiled by the Energy Department and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Hyperscale facilities alone are projected to consume between 16 billion and 33 billion gallons annually by 2028.”
Not only are large corporations seemingly taking advantage of A.I. to the point where it has led us to an environmentally delicate state, but it has also opened up A.I. to a world of racial prejudices, as previously mentioned in the case of the Obamas, and democratic decline. On February 19, 2026, the White House proceeded to post an A.I. generated photo depicting the current President, Donald J. Trump, as the king of America wearing a crown with the caption, "LONG LIVE THE KING!"
In response, many Americans took to the streets in a series of protests known as the "NO KINGS” movement, generating 5 million people nationwide in 3,300 events. In response, Donald J. Trump proceeded to post a series of clips depicting himself in an airplane throwing down what could only be implied as feces onto the crowds asserting their First Amendment rights.
While Americans continue to call for justice against Trump’s policies, the question remains: was it right that A.I. even could generate these images in the first place? Although the action was executed specifically by the A.I. and not Trump, what gives him the right to generate such obscene and hateful images?
“I think A.I. effects day-to-day lives because, I mean, yeah, it can do certain things, but can’t do everything that humans can do,” explained senior Henry Bullock. “There’s some stuff we can do and A.I. can’t. There’s some stuff A.I. can do and we can’t.”
“I don’t know exactly what it does, but I know that it destroys our environment,” offered junior Kelis Smith. “I would say it’s kind of like destroying the intellects in our generation because I feel like, especially with this generation having this much power in our hands … it’s not good. Because a lot of people don’t want to think for themselves. And if people start using robots to think for themselves or like, not trying to educate themselves on topics, it just deteriorates our minds.”
A.I. has sparked a sense of worry in our generation for ‘anti-intellectualism’. It’s not uncommon for plagiarized work to be found due to students using A.I., so, in return, schools have begun to introduce A.I. scanners. These websites, although not always accurate, have been used to detect A.I. use in school work and used to penalize those responsible.
“I would let A.I. completely loose on medicine and anything educational,” explained math teacher Mr. Pulliam. “And I would put serious regulations on its ability to run companies or be an agent of any sort of economic gain – because that’s where it’s dangerous. The economy is the dangerous part of any society. And if you don’t regulate how the economy functions, there will always be people who find the loopholes and have the power to pull the strings for the people whom they need to pull the strings with to get what they want. Money is a powerful driver, and it often leads to the worst in people. But I would let it loose on education, science, and math.”
“I’m not a fan of A.I. taking everybody's jobs,” Pulliam continued. “And it seems like that’s a possible direction it could go in. Where literally every job is taken by A.I. or a robot with A.I., or some form of A.I. Like every job, even teachers, just being taught through A.I. I do not think that is healthy. I think humans need human interaction for their mental health and if there is always a computer divide between you and the next human, I think that is a sad future. I also don’t believe that there is a society in the world that is set up to succeed if every job were taken. I think there would be the biggest divide we’ve ever seen between the wealthy and the poor, the powerful and the non-powerful.”
With the newfound existence of A.I., our world is rapidly changing. The way we access information is either being manipulated or given to us a little bit more easily. Some positives can come out from A.I. as much as negatives. But those advancements should be completely up to us, and not up to the mega-wealthy or government voices who have only profits in mind.