A professional used a tool called Otter.ai during long meetings to capture some transcripts and key takeaways. Imagine AI meticulously helping you in managing your time and handling boring, repetitive tasks faster and more accurately than us. Thinking of your AI tools as an “assistant” that helps memorize every single detail for you. This technology isn’t replacing our intelligence; it is augmenting it.
Why is AI dangerous or bad (public perception)?
Even though AI is helpful, many people are afraid of it. When most people hear about “Artificial Intelligence” they think of scary movies like Terminator. These stories make it hard for people to trust new tools, even though they are meant to help us.
Rohan Mehandirata, an 8th grader at WMS, said that last year a company did a couple tests on ChatGPT where they asked if a person gets trapped in a server room with lethal oxygen and temperature levels, would you save that person because that person is going to shut down ChatGPT and the answer came back negative, it was no.
Mr. Godkin, a 6th and 8th grade social studies teacher, explained how AI has been used for dangerous reasons according to some people, “AI requires a lot of water to make it function which is affecting the environment not that perfectly and people are having unhealthy independence on AI whether they don’t know how to do certain skills because computers do it for them.”
These reasons make people see AI as a threat to their future rather than helpful assistant. They wonder if “enhancing” our intelligence is just the first step toward replacing us entirely.
Benefits of AI:
Beyond the negatives of AI, or thinking that it will be the end of the world, AI has been made for some sterling premises. It serves as “tireless collaborator”, helping us to understand our most urgent problems with unprecedented speed and precision. There are many benefits of AI which helps us in executive functioning tasks.
Mehandirata described how AI has been a tremendous boon, “AI can help you with your work. There is a tool where you can record what your teacher said and then it will summarize some main key points from that recording.”
Mr. Malmstrom, a journalism and English teacher, said, “AI allows us to achieve more than we thought possible, it allows us to push beyond the confines of human ability.”
Mr Godkin explains the future success of education with safety, “AI will soon improve our education in the future if it is used safely. AI is starting to take the steps closer to where we need safety courses like where we should use AI and where we should not use it.”
Mrs.Cleary, an 8th grade English teacher stated, “ I think if students are taught how to use AI properly, where they are using it as a guide not just copying the whole thing then it can be a very useful tool. People should try to think for themselves first and then maybe use AI. Don’t use AI first as a replacement for your own original thoughts”
Mrs. Cleary also said that if it is used correctly, AI can guide people to communicate more clearly if they don’t have the capability to do it on their own.
How has AI Helped People at WMS:
AI is driving the most significant shift in technology since the internet. People use Artificial Intelligence in setting reminders, looking for faster routes in maps, checking the weather and making them control of smart home devices hand-free.
Some use AI to find a solution from the deficient ingredient at the grocery store. Nahomi Hastings, a 7th grader at WMS, affirmed, “One time I needed to find spinach to cook with at the grocery store, but they didn’t have the one I wanted, so then I typed into ChatGPT, clicked the picture and asked which spinach should I take for the substitute of the spinach I needed and then ChatGPT gave me different recipes for different spinach.”
Mehandirata was once stuck in a Math problem, so he used AI as a powerful tutor. Instead of copy and pasting the answer, he used it to break down the logic and for “clarity”.
AI is just not used in translation, summarizing, describing, caption, and reorganizing information faster, but can be used in catastrophic situations. These situations could be critical or high stakes situations.
Mr. Malmstrom said, “Two weeks ago, my dog was almost captured by a hawk, it had his talons out about two inches from my dog. The hawk would have killed my dog if it had gotten it. I did not know anything about hawks, so I used AI to ask what I would do to protect my dog from the hawks. AI asked me what kind of hawk it was and then it gave me links to different vests so my dog has a vest with spikes on it if a hawk tries to pick it up, it wouldn’t be able to do so. It also told me to get fake owls you can put around your yard that will deter them from visiting. If you hang shiny metallic items it will disorient them and make them not want to come to their yard because it scares them.”
Mr. Malmstrom also said that without AI, it would have taken him hours to save his dog, which took him less than 30 seconds.
Conclusion
This new technology serves as a powerful catalyst for efficiency and learning. There are some perspectives which every student should understand–that AI is your guide, not your source of cheating. If we treat AI as a powerful co-pilot rather than a shortcut, we aren’t just finishing our assignments, we are expanding the very limits of what we can learn and create. As we move to the digital future, the most important ‘intelligence’ in the room will always be one that knows when to ask for help— and when to think for itself.
