As I have grown up, technology has grown with me. When I was learning to speak, Steve Jobs was releasing the first iPhone, and ever since, coexisting with a screen has been my reality. I cannot hate it, as I have never known anything different, but like most people, I never expected it to become my competitor, my rival. 

In recent years, the discussion of AI, Artificial Intelligence, has reached lengths that surpass the need for an introduction. For some, the topic sparks intrigue, but for most, including myself, the dystopian reliance on software feels unavoidable. It is everywhere. It is in everything. A growth that once felt shared is no longer mutual, and the threat of AI, especially as a writer and a student, feels personal. I know I am not the only one who feels this way. Just recently, I have seen a collective dislike for this technology appear in my own community. With the construction of a data center under heavy debate, Joplin has become a chess piece in the broad game of AI development. The entire situation hits too close to home, and truthfully, the progression of AI feels inevitable. 

As companies integrate the technology into apps and software, the convenience of unoriginality has never been more accessible. Even as I type this, Word’s AI feature, Copilot, sits in the corner of the screen begging to be clicked, patiently waiting to turn human creation into revised, computer-generated perfection. With this capacity to override human error, the integration of AI in the arts, specifically within filmmaking and television production, was bound to occur. Work that once needed a team of individuals with multiple paychecks, now can be accomplished with a click of a button. As technology grows stronger, the integrity of human creation has been pushed to the back burner. Who needs people when we have digitally generated sets and scripts written by ChatGPT? 

If I were not someone hoping to become one of these human minds in filmmaking production, then my outlook on this development in technology might be more positive. However, I cannot help but fear for a future where artificially generated media will one day compete against my own talent. Without restrictions, the use of Artificial Intelligence is limitless, and this is a daunting prospect to not only individuals in media, but the entire working class. Though we once grew together, the unpredictable possibilities of technology ran, and it is a sprint that nobody can keep up with.