Counter Argument Analysis

Ashley Tyler

There is a fear that AI will begin to act in malicious ways against humans, but humans themselves act in malicious ways toward humans. The article ChatGPT Should Not Exist (Golumbia, 2022) argues that “Generative AI is built on very dark and destructive ideas about what human beings, creativity, and meaning are,” and it is replacing us. People were also outraged that machines were replacing humans in factories, but they have adapted by still existing in those factories and operating those machines while getting paid more. 

The book Digital Rhetoric: Theory, Method, Practice (Eyman, 2015) describes how digital rhetoric has been used for centuries to persuade people to believe in a cause. Of the articles read and the movies seen, the creators all use rhetoric to persuade us to believe the messages they are trying to convey. Eyman (2015) states that 20th-century rhetoricians have argued that meaning is a function of context and rhetoric is a mode of altering reality through thought and action. AI is used daily but it is not until we hear someone’s fears is our reality altered and we begin to fear.  

Just as Golumbia expresses fears describing how Generative AI is producing more nihilistic people, there has always been a fear of new technology throughout history. 

In the article Boo! A brief history of technology scares (2011), Peter Nowak gives an example of how Socrates, an early user of rhetoric, feared the new technology of paper. Nowak also mentions how people feared the new technology of electricity and refused to use it because they might be burned. There was also the fear of the internet when it began because no one understood where or how it existed and what would be the dire outcome of using it. 

AI is used in various ways without a thought of how harmful it could be. Autocorrect is religiously used on phones and in Word documents. Filters detect faces for either a more glamorous or a comical look. If people will accept the convenient and fun things about AI, accept all of it – the good, the bad, and the fact that humans will find malicious intent no matter the medium.