A few days ago, I was walking down the school hallway and noticed a piece of art, upon closer inspection I saw the telltale signs of AI. The awkward proportions, the weirdly yellow tint, and the fact that it looked so odd. I decided to look into this, as the school has been using AI so much recently. I had some questions, so I asked the person in the school who I believe is the most likely to know why. I asked a few questions to Mr. Johnston. As follows are the unedited questions and their answers.
What is your current and former job here:
Currently, I am the technology support person for OFHS. I was the systems engineer for the last 18 or so years, and before that, I was help desk, technology support for Hillcrest, and taught the computer repair class at Tinley.
What is your opinion on AI itself :
I’d consider myself a skeptic at the moment, nothing has really blown me away thus far.
What have you noticed about AI usage within the school
I’m seeing a lot of teachers using anti-cheating websites and things of that nature.
What do you see in the future of AI:
I think the programmers will condense or restrict the models to be more specialized, like bots today, but with a little more pizzazz.
Where do you think AI will be in 10 years:
Hard to say, technology changes quite fast, and 10 years is half of my career so far, and a lot of stuff has happened during that time. I’d like to see more specialized assistants, like smart bots/apps, that are more limited in scope but could provide assistance, help, and advice in the area they are designed for.
What have you noticed from day to day with ai in the school:
I see a mix of people who are early adopters and are actively experimenting with things, trying to figure out how to incorporate it into their daily routines, and others who don’t use it at all.
Do you view AI as a threat, a tool, a gimmick, or a mix of the three?
Definitely a mix. Some videos I’ve seen out of China with them using it to control swarms of drones during a parade, and it made different objects and creatures in the air that moved and lit up and stuff, pretty cool at first glance, but when I think about how that could be adapted to say, a battlefield, it gets scary. As a tool, I’ve been able to copy/paste a screenshot of an error message and ask it why, and occasionally it actually tells me exactly what I am looking for; sometimes it at least points me in the right direction. Most of the image and video creation I’ve seen is the most gimmicky; something about the end product lacks the human side of art/humor/emotion, and to me, it feels very fake. Once I know something is AI-generated, I find myself losing the awe and respect of knowing that somewhere out there, someone was either smart or gifted enough to come up with it. Knowing it was created by some code feels very odd.
I do personally heavily agree with Mr. Johnston, especially the mix of AI being a tool, gimmicky, and a threat. AI to me is a tool that is being used incorrectly. For instance, it can and is quickly revolutionizing medical technology. But, it isn’t being used for that use mostly. Instead, companies are jamming it into their websites, which is completely ridiculous, as this just wastes tons of energy and continues to damage our already very fragile electrical grid. Overall, I believe we should stop using AI in places where it shouldn’t be, but it should be implemented more into fields like medical diagnosis and treatment.
