When people think of AI, they think of a helpful resource to get information quickly and effectively, but has anyone ever thought to consider the negative sides of AI? AI has been on the rise recently as more people have started to use it. It’s great for helping with finding resources and helping out with math homework, but there are many cons to AI. It’s used to cheat, create art, and sometimes it even lies to people about the info it’s getting. While there are many pros of AI, such as quickly getting info, there are also many cons to it as well. Because of these cons, AI poses a great threat to society: it takes away opportunities for artists and causes unemployment in average jobs.
One of the many cons to AI is its threat to the job opportunities of artists. One of AI’s many skills is that it can produce art with a simple text prompt. That is acceptable for those who wish to quickly get art on the fly and not have to go commission an artist, but think about how it affects those who sell their art. The use of AI for art “takes away opportunities from professional artists who have spent their life honing their skill set and who rely on commissions and contracts for their livelihood” (Kelly). Artists make their money to live off of people buying their art. AI causes artists to lose money. Without a stream of people paying to buy their art, they don’t have a solid source of income and effectively lose their job. AI not only causes a loss of jobs for artists but it also “devalues the skill, knowledge, and education of human artists in favor of AI”(Kelly). Artists spend most if not all of their time on their craft, they perfect their art and pour their emotions into it. AI takes the creativity out of art; it takes a simple text prompt and the push of a button to make it. It begs the question, “If anyone can type a text prompt, get an image, and use that image however they want, where is the creative merit (Kelly) What level of creativity is put into the so-called art? AI cannot feel human emotions, thus cannot express said emotions in art. Art is a byproduct of artistic emotions and feelings. That is simply something AI could never be able to replicate.
The art industry isn’t the only industry that’s affected by AI, every day jobs are as well. AI has taken away many jobs and is causing a decline in employment. Claire Miller states that “For every robot per thousand workers, up to six workers lost their jobs and wages fell by as much as three-fourths of a percent”(Miller). As more and more AI enters the work force, more people lose their jobs. And one may think, “But wouldn’t AI just open up new jobs for people?” While true, Miller explains that, “The researchers said they were surprised to see very little employment increase in other occupations to offset the job losses in manufacturing“ (Miller). Instead of making new jobs to replace the old, it’s causing more loss in employment. As stated previously, it’s causing artists to lose their jobs. Now it’s causing other professions to see an increase in unemployment.
AI can also prove to be useful from time to time. It can help people gather quick info on the fly as well as help format a form of writing one is doing. It is a good way to help gather resources quickly, but AI also can lie and feed people with false information. A great example of this is, “during the Super Bowl was first shown online last week with a ‘hallucination’— that is to say, a bald-faced lie — visible during a demonstration of the ‘writing aid’ “(“Google’s AI”). AI has had many cases where it blatantly lied to the user about the info it was giving. How can people trust it when it gives users incorrect info on the things being asked? These ‘hallucinations’ can cause issues especially if it’s being used as a resource for a project or paper one is doing.
In short, AI harms the artistic community by taking away the artist’s touch, and causes a loss of jobs for the American people. AI poses a great threat to society because of its impact on art and the employment of average Americans. For better or worse, AI is changing the world as we know it. The amount of impact it has is up to users.
Works Cited
Leblanc, Kelly. “Art Under Fire: HOW AI CHALLENGES ARTISTIC AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY.” Information Today, vol. 41, no. 4, May 2024, pp. 16+. Gale OneFile: High School Edition, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A794076170/STOM?u=j101907012&sid=bookmark-STOM&xid=0e4f070a. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.
Miller, Claire Cain. “Evidence That Robots Are Winning the Race for American Jobs.” New York Times, 29 Mar. 2017, p. B3(L). Gale OneFile: High School Edition, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A487565165/STOM?u=j101907012&sid=bookmark-STOM&xid=efb3e484. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.
“Google’s AI made up a fake cheese fact that wound up in an ad for Google’s AI, perfectly highlighting why relying on AI is a bad idea.” PC Gamer, 10 Feb. 2025. Gale OneFile: High School Edition, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A827001791/STOM?u=j101907012&sid=bookmark-
