From flying cars to accessible cures for major diseases, the future we were promised was bright, so full of hope and glory. Instead of the fanciful science fiction utopia that the future boasted, we inch closer and closer to a technologically over engineered dystopia. With students now relying on generative text to write essays, teachers use artificially powered plagiarism checkers, artists are losing their jobs because of computer generated photos and videos, and doctors no longer using the note-taking skills they relied on. Like it or not, artificial intelligence (AI) has become a part of nearly every aspect in the modern human experience, and it’s only just begun.   

How did this happen?

A question I see a lot of people online asking. How did we get to a place where artificial intelligence is so closely interwoven with information online? How did it advance so quickly? For many people, the uprise of artificial intelligence was quick. Only in the past few years have we really seen articles and headlines talking about the modern uses of artificial intelligence, but it’s existed long before it became so prominent in the media. In the 1930’s, computer scientist, mathematician, and creator of the Turing test, Alan Turing theorized a machine which had “limitless memory and a scanner that moves back and forth through the memory, symbol by symbol, reading what it finds and writing further symbols.” (Copeland, 2025). While this initial theoretical seems drastically different from what we know artificial intelligence to be in the modern era, the principal still stands. Modern day artificial intelligence uses this same logic on a much larger scale, reacting and responding based on pattern recognition, changing the patterns it follows along the way.  

Who is using artificial intelligence?

We have quickly transitioned from artificial intelligence being an uncommon commodity used in mostly theoretical settings to it being almost completely unavoidable. While the use of artificial intelligence is most prevalent in countries such as the United States, China, and the United Kingdom (Stanford HAI, 2024), most people worldwide with access to the internet and a computer are using artificial intelligence on a daily basis, whether intentionally or not. You can find some type of artificial intelligence on almost all search engines, operating systems, media platforms, and even communication platforms such as texting and email. Artificial intelligence allows us to search through thousands of photos in our camera roll to find the ones that match our description. It gives us prompts for how to respond to emails. It can even generate art with a click of a button. Now, it has begun to appear at the top of every search on Google and other search engines. People are no longer researching their questions; they are taking the “AI Overview” at face value, leading to a continued spread of misinformation and students slowly losing the research skills they were taught in school.  

Why does it matter?

In many ways, the advancements to artificial intelligence are overall beneficial. When this type of technology is used properly and within reason, it allows society as a whole to improve efficiency and accuracy. Artificial intelligence can help screen for cancer on MRI scans, it can detect potholes in roads before they worsen, and it can even help with the simple things, such as predicting what roads will likely have traffic during your commute (Vesey, 2024). On the other hand, artificial intelligence is not all rainbows and sunshine. Artificial intelligence has caused a wide variety of issues across many disciplines. In academic settings, there has been an increase in students using artificial intelligence to write their assignments for them, break down textbooks to the simplest form, and overall hindering the inherent skill that comes from having to do your own research and fact check your sources (Walden University, 2025). Aside from the academic world, artificial intelligence is causing rifts across many other fields. People are losing their jobs in favour of artificial intelligence, and artists know this better than anyone. While many artists see artificial intelligence as a threat to their livelihood, more and more creators see it as a push to make people embrace their creativity even more. With artificial intelligence constantly pushing the boundaries on what we consider intelligence to be (Béchard, 2025), we too must continue to advance, expand our own creativity, and have the courage to push the boundaries of education and learning.  

Resources listed above

Walden University. (2025). 5 Pros and Cons of AI in the Education Sector. Walden University. https://www.waldenu.edu/programs/education/resource/five-pros-and-cons-of-ai-in-the-education-sector

Stanford HAI staff (unspecified). (2024, November 21). Global AI Power Rankings: Stanford HAI Tool Ranks 36 Countries in AI. Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. https://hai.stanford.edu/news/global-ai-power-rankings-stanford-hai-tool-ranks-36-countries-in-ai

Copeland, B. J. (2025, November 7). History of artificial intelligence (AI). Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/history-of-artificial-intelligence

Béchard, D. E. (2025, November 20). Each Time AI Gets Smarter, We Change the Definition of Intelligence (C. Moskowitz, Ed.) [Review of Each Time AI Gets Smarter, We Change the Definition of Intelligence]. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/every-ai-breakthrough-shifts-the-goalposts-of-artificial-general

Vesey, Harrison. (2024, October 4). Wondering what AI actually is? Here are the 7 things it can do for you.
The University of Sydney. https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2024/10/04/the-7-things-ai-can-do-for-you.html