Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been around for decades, but with software like ChatGPT and Gemini (along with other chatbots) becoming dominant parts of our lives (reportedly, ChatGPT has over 700 million weekly users), there come concerns with AI in regards to ethics and the environment. The ethical perspective is twofold; The ethics of continued usage and support of such technology, and the potential of it gaining sentience, and this moral consideration. And of course, there is the widely critiqued and controversial environmental cost of using AI.

We won't really be discussing AI's use in the arts and on the internet to generate content (which we agree is garbage and very annoying to see), nor will we be talking about the psychological and social consequences of it, though those discussions are important in and of themselves. Like with all emerging technologies, we view AI as a potential tool, not a substitute for work. Almost no one denies the potential utility, mostly in the form of providing answers quickly, deciphering obscure prompts a traditional search engine wouldn't be able to, and being able to offer research papers and ideas. See our [AI Usage Policy] for further information.

Ethics: Can AI become sentient?

Given how ethics prioritizes considering the interests of others, which can only arise from sentient beings, AI obtaining sentience would by definition give it moral worth.

As it stands, AI, while very good at mimicking human intelligence, is not anywhere close to actual intelligence, which is still likely years, maybe decades off. But it gaining sentience is still a genuine possibility, and whether it happens or not, it would behoove us if we knew and understood the implications of such a thing.

Environmental Cost

This in particular has been making rounds online, and it's not without merit.