Written by Emma Winters and Ava Pham
Generative Artificial Intelligence has been the world's focus for approximately two years now, from generating essays, images, responses, etc. In short, generative artificial intelligence is a technology that performs technological tasks that a human would typically perform. Our current society relies on artificial intelligence for everyday tasks, although it seems the average person wouldn't understand the appalling truths of this software. Generative AI should be removed from Lafayette schools. Throughout AI’s evolution, it has become more and more harmful. It immensely impacts the lives of the people and ecosystems in a deficient way, and it may possibly fuel the downfall of human work. We must educate the students of Lafayette on the destructive impact of generative artificial intelligence. The students of Lafayette are intelligent enough to not rely on a soulless machine for the protection of our youth and the world’s ecosystem.
Generative AI use has been proven to cause a lack in skills such as critical thinking, memory retention, and creativity. While asking ChatGPT or Gemini for assistance for one project may seem harmless, users can quickly become dependent on AI and “need” it for every small task they do. In school, students should learn to become self-sufficient and develop skills that they will need for the rest of their life. Implementing AI into schools can encourage students to start using AI as an easy way out instead of putting in effort to do their work, even if it is not intended to do so. Many teachers use AI to create their curriculum that they use to teach. It also may provoke students to question why their teachers are using AI, if they are not allowed to. Furthermore, it may lead to them thinking that using it for all assignments is acceptable and they should take the “shortcut” to finish faster. Overreliance on AI frequently causes students to stop solving their own problems and trust generated responses entirely; dependency on AI has also been shown to cause a shallow understanding of subjects. In a 2023 study on AI’s effect on students’ creativity and mindset, they found that “students no longer feel the need to think or conceptualize because AI can provide the necessary information and ideas,”(Chavez and Duhaylungsod). If students are not thinking about their answers, then they are not learning anything or developing any skills. By doing so, they are also harming their ability to think critically, solve problems, and make connections in their head. Schools need to create an environment that values honesty and sincere effort. By endorsing AI and applying it to course material, they are inadvertently provoking students to use AI as a shortcut, which can harm the development of their cognitive abilities. For the protection of the youth, AI should not be used in schools.
AI data centers require copious amounts of electricity and water to be able to run, fueling global warming. With growing concerns of climate change, AI use is worsening this problem. Data centers need water to cool their systems in temperature to prevent overheating. Due to the rising popularity of generative AI use, there are only more and more data centers being built to match its growth. With more data centers comes higher consumption of water and electricity. In the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s 2025 report of data center electricity usage, they found that “data centers could account for 11.8% of total U.S. electricity by 2030,” (Smith et al.). This is a massive increase in data centers’ usage of electricity when comparing 2014 electricity usage also found by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, with 70 billion kWh or 1.8% of US energy consumption. New data centers are being built and planned for right now. A 2024 study approximates that out of data center energy consumption in 2023 that “56% derived from fossil fuels—generating more than 105 million tons of CO2e,” which accounted for “2.18% of US emissions in 2023,”(Guidi et al.). With these estimates coming from 2024 and accounting for the influx in AI advancement and data centers’ consumption of energy, it can be assumed these numbers are now multiplied today. The growth of data centers only increases global concerns of our climate’s rising temperature. It is only a matter of time until temperatures rise enough to affect the food and water supply, or even become too hot to support human life. Humanity still has a chance to act now to lower temperatures and carbon emissions. While it may be hard to stop data centers from multiplying in number, boycotting generative AI can help to preserve the climate. In addition, data centers consume massive amounts of water, taking away from the locals who live near one. Information from Virginia data centers report that in their facilities, “the average daily water consumption per building is approximately 18,000 gallons,”(Privette et al.) These impact local communities, taking away large portions of their water that is needed for drinking, washing items, cooking, etc. Data centers are commonly placed in locations with scarce water, building more ignores the needs of the people living nearby. Combatting these effects can seem challenging, but it all starts by boycotting generative AI use. Citizens can spread awareness to their community or online platforms, stop using generative AI and refrain from supporting companies that do use AI as much as possible, protest data centers that are in planning and development stages, and of course, make daily efforts against climate change. In order to protect the Earth’s climate and support our ecosystems and local communities, it is for the better that AI use is limited to lower data center pollution and consumption of resources.
The many companies that promote generative artificial intelligence advertise it as the “future of the world”. By the future, they truly intend the decline in human labor. Many corporations including Microsoft, Salesforce, Oracle, and TCS have laid off hundreds of their employees to replace them with artificial intelligence. These companies have initiated this because it is a cheaper alternative all around because they don't have to pay a salary or health benefits, disregarding that it may take months, even years for their prior employee to be employed once again. Besides major tech giants relying on AI for their companies, other businesses and AI consumers have been relying on artificial intelligence to generate advertisements, merchandise, jingles, etc. rather than hiring humans. Due to generative AI, thousands of people are fearing for their jobs. According to a Gallup poll, approximately 27% of U.S. employees aged 18 - 44 years old fear that their jobs will become obsolete due to the rising use of AI in workplaces. This ties into the children of Lafayette because in the future, most children currently in school will be searching for employment. There will be a significantly less amount of work opportunities for people in our city in the next ten years and sooner.
Generative artificial intelligence can harm the public in unjustifiable ways. Thousands of people’s aspects of their identity are being stolen. An AI user can simply record the voice of a person and apply it to an AI software and ask it to generate sentences to scam people. These audios can deceive any uneducated person and urgently ask for money, credit card numbers, or sensitive information posing as loved ones. Synthetic conversations or voice cloning are on the rise with the increase of stolen audio footprint. According to BECU, a mother lost $15,000.00 after receiving a call that used voice cloning to pose as her crying daughter asking for money to be put in a box at a disclosed location. This is one of many examples of how a person can be scammed by AI. AI can also generate text that includes bias and misinformation. According to MIT Management, In a study from 2017 by Buolamwini called “Gender Shades”, that tested AI-based commercial gender classification systems found “significant disparities in accuracy across different genders and skin types. These systems performed better on male and lighter-skinned faces than others. The largest disparity was found in darker-skinned females, where error rates were notably high,”. When AI information only includes a narrow selection of people and excludes minorities, this gives people an unrealistic view of society. It can hurt the people that are being excluded and promote elitism among those using the AI software. Of course, children need to feel represented within their cultures and identities. Another issue with AI is that it tracks the information of children and adults using the software, based on what one has shared with it. Even when being careful with the amount of information given to AI, it can still track a noteworthy amount of critical data. With Artificial Intelligence including voice cloning, biased representations of people or storing your statistics, it is obvious that children should not participate in AI usage.
From the above information and research provided, it is clear that the children of Lafayette will not benefit from the usage of generative artificial intelligence. Its usage will harm the children . The benefits of not using AI outweigh the detriment it can cause our forming youth. If you have read this far, please consider signing the petition.