Amidst all the online chatter regarding the impact of AI, I can only contribute one point which initially may seem strange. The main claim of ChatGPT, and generative AI, is its remarkable speed. At the click of a button, any question you may have is answered nearly instantaneously by AI. Writing a paper? No problem; ChatGPT will generate a flawless essay in a matter of seconds.

My experience has been the exact opposite – ChatGPT slows down the writing/blogging process. Yes, you read that correctly. ChatGPT is an impediment to the writing/blogging process.

Let’s begin with a bit of background, so we can all understand what I am arguing. I grew up in the age before the internet, during a time when artificial intelligence was the stuff of science fiction. The latter can be quite useful, portraying a society (or dystopia) should existing scientific trends continue.

However, when science fiction becomes a recipe for obsessive technofixes, this is when we become trapped in our own delusions. The tech billionaires want us to fixate on technofixes, technological innovations that will allegedly solve our societal problems.

Technology is wonderful, contributing to all sorts of improvements in our lives. Longer and healthier lives, unraveling the mysteries of outer space, bringing species back from the brink of extinction – these are awesome accomplishments.

We must overcome the focus on the technofixes-plus-markets scenario promoted by the tech giants.

Ok, let’s get back to my school days. I distinctly remember the English teacher from senior high school, Ms Williams, putting me on the spot.

The subject of nuclear weapons and the possibility of thermonuclear war came up in class. I think we were discussing George Orwell’s 1984. We were sitting in a rectangular fashion, all of us facing the centre. The topic of whether or not Nazi Germany was developing an atomic weapon came up. Were they pursuing a nuclear programme? Were they close to building a bomb, or decades away? Did the US do the right thing by bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

The teacher looked at me and said, ‘Rupen, you seem to know a lot about this subject, World War 2 and so on, what do you think? Was Germany building a nuclear weapon?’

I answered the question to the best of my abilities. After class ended, I was thinking about that episode. The teacher asked for my evaluation about an important topic. She saw me, all of 16 years old, as a subject matter expert. She asked in front of the whole class. I relied on books – and documentaries – to answer her question.

I had to separate science fiction from reality. What does that mean?

Nazi Wunderwaffen (wonder weapons) have been the subject of intense fascination since the end of World War 2. All the documentation, prototypes and military equipment of the Nazi war machine (at least, that which was not destroyed) was seized and studied by the Allied authorities. That included the Nazi nuclear program.

While the Nazi party had hundreds of military projects and proposed technological projects (involving thousands of civilian contractors), they were decades away from constructing a nuclear bomb. This is not to dismiss the German scientists as incompetents; far from it. As the Nazis were losing territory and resources, the capability of achieving a controlled nuclear chain reaction diminished.

There has been all sorts of speculation about the Wunderwaffen – prototypes of gigantic super tanks to anti-gravity flying saucers and UFOs. Occultism and Western fascination with esoteric spiritualism has melded with Nazi Germany, the latter associated with supernatural and mystical forces. Let us remember that the Nazi authorities did their best to promote occultism and pseudo-archaeology in their official policies.

What was a demonstrably successful super-duper weapon was the V-2 rocket, an early version of a cruise missile. Dubbed the vengeance weapon, this guided ballistic missile brought terror to the hearts of the Allies. Flying undetected and unable to be brought down by anti-aircraft systems, these rockets were technically the first human-made vehicles to reach outer space, just surpassing the Karman line of the Earth’s upper atmosphere.

They caused casualties in Britain, but the heaviest toll the V-2 rockets took was on the thousands of forced labourers, concentration camp inmates compelled to build them. Yes, the scientists and engineers designed them, but it was the thousands of concentration camp workers who died building them.

The V-2 scored spectacular successes, but did not change the course of the war.

ChatGPT is similar to the V-2 missile; a spectacular piece of technology that is initially impressive, but has a hidden human-environmental cost, a technofix that will not ultimately change the current course of our capitalist society.

There are increasing reports, and awareness of, the enormous ecological costs of the data centres which process our AI requests. Data centres are the unrecognised engines (or forced labourers) of the digital age. They consume vast amounts of electricity and require huge quantities of water to cool them down. That water cannot be replaced. Each ChatGPT essay requires a staggering amount of water to sustain the processing power of the data centre.

If AI can perform a statistical analysis of complex data sets, thus saving you time, that is great. If ChatGPT produces a greater return on investment (ROI) for your business, that is fantastic.

If you write an essay using ChatGPT, and submit that as part of a university course, think about what you have actually learned. If the tutor or instructor uses ChatGPT to evaluate your essay, does that mean they have actually understood what your paper?

If our educational experience is mediated by AI-driven exchanges, what happens to the meaning of a university education?

Open ChatGPT, and think of the topic you want to ask it. Type in your question and press Return. It will give you a wonderful answer. Is it correct? Is it hallucinating references or citations, which it is known to do?

You still need to edit and rewrite what it has produced. You still need to verify the content as correct. You still need to ensure that the essay says what you want to say. You could allocate all that time and energy towards creating your own work. So, close ChatGPT and write your own essay.