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Samer Rihawi
Samer Rihawi

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Generative AI: A Blessing or a Curse ?

Summary

Generative AI, or Gen AI, emerged as a transformative force that took the world by storm. It transformed industries with remarkable speed as it empowered creativity and automating complex tasks. However, it also raised worries around misinformation, ethics, job loss, and intellectual property.

Introduction

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has immensely progressed beyond recognizing patterns or making predictions. Now machine cannot only learn, but create text, images, music, and even software code.
Just like any disruptive innovation, generative AI has become a double-edged sword. While some hail it as a revolutionary tool for productivity and innovation, others raise red flags of the dire consequences it might bring.

The Blessings of Generative AI

Generative AI can allow anyone to create high quality content even with a little or non-technical knowledge. Writers can get assistance drafting articles, artists can generate images, and developers can rapidly write code.
As an educator and researcher, I use generative AI to generate quizzes and assignments as well as summarize and cite academic articles.
Recently, OpenAI launched its ChatGPT-4o Image Generation model, and many social media platforms were flooded by anime-generated images from real-life ones.
As a lifelong anime fan, I explored various styles- and the results were mind blowing.

The Curses of Generative AI

While the blessings of Generative AI are countless, so are its curses.

One of the most serious concerns of it is the generation of misleading or harmful content, or what is known as deepfakes such as fake news, articles, fabricated images, and synthetic voices, which might lead, if not controlled, to manipulate public opinion and damage reputations.
Another main concern, is losing jobs. While AI boosts productivity, it might lead to displace skills, especially for routine jobs like data entry clerks, accountants, and call centers.
Generative AI raises unresolved ethical and legal questions: who owns AI generated content? and should it be allowed to imitate the creativity and originality of artists? how can we ensure that it is used in a fair way?

Striking a Balance: Responsible Use

The future of Generative AI depends on how we can manage and guide its development. This involves establishing clear legal and ethical frameworks on its uses.
Also, any AI-generated content should be disclosed and limited to the minimum.
Society should be equipped with digital literacy to use Generative AI in a responsible way and to avoid misusing it in writing assignments or in cheating and plagiarism.

Conclusion

Generative AI, just like any powerful tool, it not good or bad. Its impact depends on how we choose to use it. It can be a profound force of good, and a dangerous source of misinformation and harm if left unchecked.
It does not reflect the intelligence of machine only- but the intentions, ethics, and values of the humans who create and use it.


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