Since the beginning of literature and mass entertainment, humans have been writing stories about the dangers of their own creations becoming autonomous and taking over. While the usage of technology increased, so did the fear of technology dominating our whole society. In movies like “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Terminator,” writers showed a very dramatic and extreme version of technology becoming too smart. However, it’s possible that technology, like artificial intelligence, is taking over in an unexpected way.

While AI gets more and more advanced, critics continue to question if it’s helping or harming people. For example, an AI-generated image recently won an art competition at the Colorado State Fair and people were very upset. Many argued that the photo should never have been submitted. Others said that, because the “artist” used his own words to generate the photo, it was an original work.

AI is affecting many more fields than just technology, and some would say it is taking the originality away from human creations. While it is making the lives of many much easier, it is possible that it has gone too far. Pretty soon, no one will be able to tell the difference between AI-generated material and human material. This will impact many industries, including public relations.

Public relations touches every industry, so when the success of those fields is being impacted, PR will be as well. Our work thrives off of human creativity and interaction with one another, so an abundance of AI controlling the world will not be beneficial. Also, if AI begins to be able to analyze and understand the way people act and react to campaigns, advertisements, publications, and more, PR professionals will also be out of the job.

With the increased usage of AI comes a decrease in creativity and work ethic in people, which are two very bad things. While AI can be helpful in certain situations, is it ultimately necessary for this much of it to be impacting our lives? Science often falters when they ask “can we do it ” instead of “should we do it.” Although it is fascinating to see all of the amazing technical accomplishments we can have as a society, AI may be one that is more harmful than helpful.

This NYTimes article tells more about the AI plight.