Artificial intelligence has taken over every aspect of the internet. Social media, streaming platforms, and even the most basic search engines all have some form of this technology, but is it really doing any good?
When looking something up on Google, you’ll get a Gemini AI overview on quite literally every single topic imaginable, sometimes showing false information. The AI takes its information from a wide variety of sources online, regardless of the veracity of the material, and it may register as factual to the average person.
AI chatbots are also a feature on pretty much every app right now including Snapchat, Instagram, X, Spotify and now TikTok, which had one added in a recent update. Its intended purpose is to assist users on these platforms and answer questions they may have without spending tons of time on research. Frankly, I don’t know anyone who actually finds this technology helpful, and I’ve only ever seen people making fun of or getting annoyed by it.
Speaking of people getting annoyed by AI, this year’s Super Bowl ads were filled with either AI generated content or content promoting AI usage, which no one found particularly entertaining. Even on Pinterest, arguably the least harmful social media platform, users are getting sick of every other pin being AI generated for no apparent reason.
Looking at more serious impacts, AI has completely taken over students and the school environment overall. Almost everyone I know uses ChatGPT or some other form of AI to “help” with their assignments, but really, they’re just letting a robot do all the work instead. According to the College Board, “the percentage of high school students who report using GenAI tools for schoolwork is growing, increasing from 79% to 84% between January and May 2025.”
This has led to so many negative consequences, but the most prevalent and concerning of them all is the decrease in literacy rates over the past couple of years. According to recent scores from the National Assessment of Education Progress, 32% of high school seniors scored below “basic,” showing they could not decipher a text to find details crucial for comprehension.
Another consequence from AI in classrooms is assignments wrongfully getting flagged as AI by other AI systems. While for teachers it seems like a foolproof way to catch students who are cheating, but the reality is innocent students end up with their hard work diminished and no way to defend themselves.
Aside from all this, AI has the potential to cause irreparable damage to the environment. The amount of electricity needed for some AI models emit a ridiculous amount of carbon dioxide while also putting unnecessary strain on local power grids. Mass amounts of water are needed to cool the hardware used for generative AI which can disrupt surrounding ecosystems or drain water supplies.
Every time I see AI now, I just get annoyed and wonder how much of this is actually doing any good. From my viewpoint, AI is more annoying than anything else and has more harmful impacts than good.
