INTRODUCTION

Artificial intelligence, or AI is nothing new; however, it has been developing at a very fast

rate over the last several years. The topic of AI has interested me, as I am unsure of whether it

will have a positive or negative effect on my life in the future. The research that I conducted

questions what benefits and downsides AI advancement may bring in our future, and how

society feels toward this subject.

Secondary research finds both positive and negative effects of this quick development of

AI. The article titled A comprehensive review of the negative impact of integration of AI in

Social-Media in Mental Health of Users conducts studies that find that the use of AI in social

media has negative effects on our mental health. Additionally, the article titled Advantages and

Disadvantages of Artificial Intelligence discusses both the pros and cons of AI advancements.

Some examples of the benefits mentioned are a decreased rate of ‘human error’, the constant

availability of AI, lets AI take risks rather than humans taking these risks, quick decision making,

and the possibility for new inventions. On the other hand, this article also touches on a few

downsides of these advancements, like the monetary cost of developing AI, the increased rate

of laziness among humans, increased unemployment rates, and the lack of creativity and

emotions from AI. The use of AI can bring several benefits to society, but we can also realize the

negative effects that may be brought with them.

In my study, I will analyze different communities’ thoughts and feelings regarding the

advancement of AI. My research questions what the advantages and disadvantages of AI may be

in our future.

METHODS
 In my paper, I will examine the benefits and problems that advancements in AI may

bring in the future. While doing research, I went on reddit to get a feel for the views that

commenters, also called redditors, have on AI development and what they believe it may bring

with it in the future. I chose reddit since users tend to freely voice their opinion on this

platform. The users are very cordial and respectful with one another when they interact. After

searching different keywords on multiple occasions, I found many comments that show different

perspectives and different emotions towards this subject.

First, I searched “pros and cons of AI” on reddit, which led me to a community titled

r/AskOldPeople, which discussed mostly negative effects of AI. The question asked in this

community was “In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of AI? Are you happy or sad that

you (probably) won’t see this technology advance to its prime?”. The redditors on this subreddit

shared many similar emotions to one another. Based on the title of this community, we can

assume that these are elderly people giving their opinions, meaning they have experience in

life, and they can offer valid points. Off to the side of my screen, I came across a different

community, titled, r/TrueOffMyChest, where users conveyed similar feelings to the prior thread.

In this community, phanzov36 said “I have no interest in AI and I realize I’m doing myself dirty.”.

While this does not directly ask people about the benefits and downsides of AI, there were a

few redditors who voiced their feelings and opinions on the subject.

Next, I searched “Artificial intelligence pros”, and I was led to r/AskReddit, where both

pros and cons were discussed. This community responded to the question, “What are some

pros and cons of AI?”. This subreddit finally gave me a slight idea of people’s perceptions and

feelings on the other side of the argument.

 Each of these 3 subreddits provided me with a substantial number of comments. For my

study, I will be using three comments from r/AskOldPeople that are the most relevant to the

topic, and three comments that all reference the same movie to show a common concern. In

r/TrueOffMyChest, there are two comments that pertain to individuals’ feelings towards AI that

I will investigate. I will also be using the “best” three comments, which are determined and

sorted by reddit, from r/AskReddit.

RESULTS

The first set of comments I chose to investigate were the three comments that I believe

are most relevant to the pros and cons of AI from r/AskOldPeople. The redditor, clx94, asks, “In

your opinion, what are the pros and cons of AI? Are you happy or sad that you (probably) won’t

see this technology advance to its prime?” Below are these three comments.

Comment Redditor Comment

Number
#1 thrunabulax “the cons are: Tens of millions of people will lose their jobs,
and NOT be qualified for the higher level jobs left over. Also,
government is ALREADY intruding on our privacy…and AI will
be able to do that 10x more efficiently.
the pros: new drugs will be ‘discovered’, more efficient uses
of energy, more production from farms to feed the world,
better forest fire fighting, better prediction of hurricane
damage, etc.”
#2 galumphix “Soooo glad I’m near the end of my career and won’t have to
see it destroy mine.”
#3 JaneEyrewasHer “I’m unsettled, to be honest.”
e

From this same thread, I found a few comments that all referenced the movie ‘The

Terminator’. Below are these three comments.

Comment Redditor Comment

 Number
#4 Kllynchl “I’ve seen terminator. Can’t say that I”m sad.”
“Have you seen any of the Terminator movies?😜”
#5 DrKoob

#6 Molehunter2022 “Considering that AI’s ‘prime’ might include world

domination and the extermination of humanity (didn’t we
learn anything from Terminator?), I would be fine with
missing that. Hopefully it won’t advance quite that far.”

The next set of comments that I decided to evaluate were from the community

r/TrueOffMyChest. The redditor phanzov36 posted, “I have no interest in AI and I realize I’m

doing myself dirty.”. The two comments that pertained to redditors feelings towards AI are

below.

Comment Redditor Comment

Number
#7 New-Mathematician869 “Tbh I’m scared for when AI becomes more relevant
than it is even now. It’s sus af.”
#8 Friendsfan97 “In an ever changing world where some occupations
already became obsolete I sometimes wonder how it
will affect teaching as a job”

The last set of comments I chose to include in this evaluation were from r/AskReddit. In

this subreddit, jennu1ne asks, “What are some pros and cons of AI?” Below are the three “best”

responses that were posted to their question.

Comment Redditor Comment

Number
#9 teeohbeewye “pros: it could replace human labor
cons: it could replace human labor”
#10 risenomega “con- The complete robot takeover that’ll happen because of it.
pro- none”
#11 Vylnce “Pros:
It can improve search and make knowledge more accessible.
Cons:
Humans may stop retaining foundational information as it
 becomes more accessible.”

Overall, the results that I found from r/AskOldPeople, r/TrueOffMyChest, and

r/AskReddit have answered my question. While there are both positive and negative arguments

for the rapid development of AI, it is apparent that most individuals, specifically redditors, feel

that the downsides outweigh the advantages. Due to this view, we can see that more people are

against the development of AI than in favor of it. There are significantly more comments

discussing the downsides of AI than the advantages that come from it. The benefits that I

discovered were that artificial intelligence can replace human labor, make medical discoveries,

find better ways for us to use energy, help us fight against and prepare for natural disasters, and

that it can give us easier access to more knowledge. The long list of detrimental effects that we

may face due to this quick expansion of AI consists of high rates of unemployment where upper-

level jobs cannot be filled, an invasion of our privacy, the possibility of a robot takeover, and less

knowledge retained by humans since information is easier to access.

ANALYSIS

Comment Analysis of Comment

Number
#1 This comment provides insight and examples on both the pros and cons of AI. By
their use of capital letters when discussing the cons, we can determine that they
are passionate and have strong feelings against this development. This redditor
lists examples of the pros, like efficient uses of energy, medicinal improvements,
and ways to combat world issues and natural disasters. The cons listed are much
more severe and impactful, like a rise in employment rates and an invasion of our
privacy.
#2 It can be inferred from this comment that this user believes that AI will begin to
take over people’s careers. Writing ‘soooo’ emphasizes how thankful they are
that they will not experience this effect of unemployment that they believe is
coming as a result of AI expansion.
#3 While this user’s response is short, it makes their feelings toward advances in AI
 very clear. The user is “unsettled” by the way that AI is advancing.
#4 In this comment, the user refers to the movie series, The Terminator. They say
that they are not sad, referring to the fact that they may not see the future of AI.
Using these words, we see that this user believes AI is leading to a road of
destruction.
#5 This comment also refers to the movie series, The Terminator. By their wording, it
is clear that this user also believes that AI may lead to situations similar to those
in these movies. This does not give a positive outlook on AI advancement.
#6 This user feels that AI can grow to “exterminat[e]… humanity” and references The
Terminator. The also claim that they “would be fine with missing that”, which
shows that they have negative feelings towards this progression.
#7 This comment reveals a user’s feelings towards AI. They say that they are scared
for when AI becomes “more relevant” and says that it is “sus af”. This means that
they feel that the idea of AI is suspicious and should be looked into. We can easily
tell that this user is weary and apprehensive when it comes to AI advancements.
#8 This user provides a reason for why they are against AI. They explain that some
jobs have already been lost due to the use of artificial intelligence, but they
“wonder how it will affect teaching as a job”. This wording brings with it negative
connotations.
#9 This user uses the same reason to be both for and against AI. The reason is that it
“can replace human labor”. Most people stating this use it against AI, but it can
also be a reason to increase the use of AI. This shows that artificial intelligence is
a double-edged sword, and several of the downsides can be reversed and views
as benefits.
#10 This comment is hinting towards the same impact as the ones described by those
who referred to The Terminator. This user does not see any benefits, but instead
fears the “takeover” that it may bring. By the wording this user chose, we can
sense that they have a feeling of uneasiness toward this progression.
#11 This comment shows another example that can be both a benefit and a
disadvantage to AI expansion. This user believes that it will give us more
information and make this “knowledge more accessible”, but that it may also
allow for humans to not retain information since it is readily available.

This chart analyzes each reddit comment that I chose to examine for this study. For

instance, AI and privacy concerns: a smart meter case study investigates and finds a breach in

the privacy of our homes due to the addition of AI to smart meters. This issue of privacy leaks

corresponds to comment #1. The concern of our privacy with AI can be applied in many aspects,

like phones, smart technology like Amazon’s Alexa, and several other facets.
 Additionally, another concern of AI that is found in several of the comments is the

reduction of jobs. Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Jobs claims that “[i]n the EU member

states, 54% of jobs are at risk of computerization”. With AI overtaking 54% of jobs, more than

half of the EU will be left unemployed. This article also lists several jobs that AI can easily

replace, like telemarketers, salespeople, receptionists, couriers, and many more. We see this

fear of AI due to the risk of unemployment in comments #1, #2, #8, and #9.

On the other hand, AI can help assist us in making advancements in healthcare.

According to Study on artificial intelligence: The state of the art and future prospects, “AI-related

algorithms are [already being] used to provide medical assistance, to detect cancer, and to

develop new drugs”. They are also used to “perform medical diagnosis more effectively and

precisely”. Cancer is something that we do not yet have a cure for. We can treat it, but not fully

cure it. With AI, the cure for cancer may be found sooner than we thought. As we can see, AI is

already being used in healthcare to benefit humanity. The possibilities for where AI can go in

the field of healthcare is endless.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the primary and secondary research that I conducted discovered the benefits

and the downsides to AI advancements. While artificial intelligence can benefit humanity in

ways like medical advancements, more efficient ways to use energy, and more knowledge, there

are major disadvantages that cause society to be wary towards these developments. Just a few

of these drawbacks include privacy invasions, elevated unemployment rates, a decrease in

retained knowledge, and some even fear a robot takeover. AI can be used to our advantage to

benefit humanity, but some of these setbacks seem inevitable. The feelings that people hold
towards AI advancement are generally negative. The thought of AI growth makes many people

anxious and uneasy. Those who develop AI at these rapid rates should be held accountable and

need to find ways to combat these lengthy downsides.

 Works Cited

Shah, B., & N., S. M. B. (2022). “A comprehensive review of the negative impact of integration

of AI in social-media in mental health of users.” 2022 5th International Conference on

Advances in Science and Technology

(ICAST).https://doi.org/10.1109/icast55766.2022.10039585

Kumar, S. (2019, December 12). “Advantages and disadvantages of Artificial Intelligence.”

Towards Data Science. https://towardsdatascience.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-

of-artificial-intelligence-182a5ef6588c

Carmody, J., Shringarpure, S., & Van de Venter, G. (2021). “Ai and privacy concerns: A smart

meter case study.” Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, 19(4),

492–505. https://doi.org/10.1108/jices-04-2021-0042

Kukkar, S., & Midha, Dr. K. (2023). “Impact Of Artificial Intelligence on Jobs.” Journal of Survey

in Fisheries Sciences.

http://www.sifisheriessciences.com/index.php/journal/article/view/1518/872

Zhang, C., & Lu, Y. (2021a). Study on Artificial Intelligence: The state of the art and future

prospects. Journal of Industrial Information Integration, 23, 100224.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jii.2021.100224

clx94. (2023, May). “In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of ai ? are you happy or sad

that you (probably) won’t see this technology advance to its prime ?” Reddit.
 https://www.reddit.com/r/AskOldPeople/comments/1383vl6/in_your_opinion_what_are

_the_pros_and_cons_of_ai/

phanzov36. (2023, April). “I have no interest in AI and I realize I’m doing myself dirty.” Reddit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueOffMyChest/comments/12yyeel/i_have_no_interest_in_ai_and

_i_realize_im_doing/

jennu1ne. (2023, May). “What are some pros and cons of ai?.” Reddit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/135ytwj/what_are_some_pros_and_co

ns_of_ai/