We have all heard about the effects that artificial intelligence is having on the environment, but have you considered the effects it has on you? The effects it could have on your future? Will AI manipulate your words, your images, your posts, your thoughts, the way you express your emotions until you are more robotic than human? 

 In a Vox pop at Xaverian, 100% said they used AI, 40% being for schoolwork, 20% for inquires and 40% for other tasks. Of those who use AI for schoolwork, 67% said they get better marks when they do. Our future teachers, doctors, dentists and lawyers are getting an education through Chat GPT.  

 However, what could the negative effects of this be? This attitude towards AI is demolishing not only our education but also our critical thinking skills. It is crucial in 2025’s political climate to have the ability to form our own opinions and have insightful conversations with others rather than only with a computer. An artificial intelligence bot can pull its ‘research’ from anywhere, any source without giving credit. How can you guarantee that this source is relevant or even truthful? 

 People also use AI to replace human connections. In 2025, people are using Chat GPT as a therapist. This could ruin true human connections and the way we process our own emotions. A robot for a therapist is truly a disturbing concept, as the whole point of therapy is for a person to explore their problems with another, qualified, person to give them clarity. An AI bot may be able to provide a solution, but it could never comprehend the emotions you share with it. People are building up connections with pixels on a screen because they feel so isolated from their own life, but your only friend being a robot is the most isolated a person could possibly be. While the epidemic of loneliness is rife, the app on your phone will not save you from this. When you talk to a real human, do you really want all your insights and perspectives to be something you memorised from Chat GPT? Or do you want it to be your own carefully thought-out opinion that you formed in your own time with your own brain?  

 In October 2025, Chat GPT had 800 million weekly users. Chat GPT can only be used for so many things, educational support, informal support or entertainment. So, 800 million people per week are either using Chat GPT to give them prompts for their essay or even write their essay for them. Would it be so absurd to suggest that you plan and write your own essay? You could even do wider research from the wealth of media that is already out there and made by humans for humans?  

 So shut your laptop or close your phone. There are millions of novels to read, films or tv shows to watch, theatre productions to watch, albums to listen to. Entertainment is not limited to an AI generated image. 

 One of the most harmful threats of AI are deepfake videos generated by AI which are surfacing daily. It’s said that in 2023, 500,000 deepfakes were generated, and in 2025, 8 million were. Now, not all of these are harmful, but the selection of them that are harmful could be extremely damaging. 

 Ofcom, the company that regulates social media in the UK say when it comes to deepfakes they are “focussing on outcomes like consumer safety”. However, Ofcom’s statistics show that consumers have not been kept very safe from the effects of generative media. According to Ofcom, of those who have seen a sexual deepfake, 15% said it depicted someone they knew, 6% say it depicted them and 17% said it depicted someone under the age of 18. Not only does AI facilitate the creation of pornography usually without the consent of the person/people in the videos, it is facilitating the creation of child pornography, which is truly poisonous to the people depicted. Deepfakes can affect people’s future job or educational opportunities even though they played no part in the creation of it. While it is the fault of the people who ask the AI to generate this content, the AI enables it.  

 So shut your laptop or close your phone. There are millions of novels to read, films or tv shows to watch, theatre productions to watch, albums to listen to. Entertainment is not limited to an AI generated image. Certainly not one that could cause immense harm to a person.