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Argumentative Essay on Artificial Intelligence

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107 Artificial Intelligence Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a rapidly advancing field that has the potential to revolutionize various aspects of our lives. From self-driving cars to virtual assistants, AI is already making a significant impact on society. If you are tasked with writing an essay on artificial intelligence, you might be wondering where to start. To help you get started, here are 107 artificial intelligence essay topic ideas and examples that you can consider:

• The history and evolution of artificial intelligence.
• The ethical implications of artificial intelligence.
• The impact of artificial intelligence on job markets.
• Can artificial intelligence replace human creativity?
• The role of artificial intelligence in healthcare.
• The potential dangers of advanced artificial intelligence.
• The impact of AI on education and learning.
• How AI is transforming customer service.
• The importance of transparency in AI decision-making.
• The challenges of regulating artificial intelligence.
• The impact of AI on cybersecurity.
• The role of AI in climate change mitigation.
• The use of AI in financial markets.
• The impact of AI on privacy and personal data.
• The potential of AI in space exploration.
• The role of AI in improving transportation systems.
• The impact of AI on the entertainment industry.
• The use of AI in agriculture and food production.
• The challenges of bias and fairness in AI algorithms.
• The role of AI in diagnosing and treating diseases.
• The impact of AI on military warfare.
• The potential of AI in reducing poverty and inequality.
• The role of AI in predicting and preventing natural disasters.
• The ethical considerations of AI in autonomous weapons.
• The impact of AI on social media and online platforms.
• The use of AI in language translation and interpretation.
• The challenges of AI in understanding human emotions.
• The role of AI in improving urban planning and development.
• The impact of AI on the music industry.
• The potential of AI in enhancing human capabilities.
• The ethical implications of AI in human cloning.
• The impact of AI on law enforcement and crime prevention.
• The use of AI in environmental conservation.
• The challenges of bias in AI facial recognition technology.
• The role of AI in improving disaster response and recovery.
• The impact of AI on journalism and news reporting.
• The potential of AI in enhancing virtual reality experiences.
• The ethical considerations of AI in animal testing.
• The impact of AI on the legal profession.
• The use of AI in improving mental health diagnosis and treatment.
• The challenges of AI in promoting diversity and inclusion.
• The role of AI in enhancing sports performance.
• The impact of AI on transportation infrastructure.
• The potential of AI in predicting and preventing pandemics.
• The ethical considerations of AI in autonomous vehicles.
• The impact of AI on the fashion industry.
• The use of AI in disaster management and response.
• The challenges of AI in detecting and preventing fraud.
• The role of AI in improving renewable energy systems.
• The impact of AI on the hospitality industry.
• The potential of AI in enhancing virtual reality gaming.
• The ethical implications of AI in genetic engineering.
• The impact of AI on supply chain management.
• The use of AI in wildlife conservation and protection.
• The challenges of AI in ensuring algorithmic accountability.
• The role of AI in enhancing retail shopping experiences.
• The impact of AI on the film and movie industry.
• The potential of AI in improving disaster preparedness.
• The ethical considerations of AI in organ transplantation.
• The impact of AI on the advertising industry.
• The use of AI in improving public transportation systems.
• The challenges of AI in detecting and preventing cyberattacks.
• The role of AI in enhancing renewable energy infrastructure.
• The impact of AI on the gaming industry.
• The potential of AI in improving emergency response systems.
• The ethical implications of AI in brain-computer interfaces.
• The impact of AI on the healthcare insurance industry.
• The use of AI in improving waste management systems.
• The challenges of AI in detecting and preventing hate speech.
• The role of AI in enhancing e-commerce experiences.
• The impact of AI on the music streaming industry.
• The potential of AI in improving disaster recovery processes.
• The ethical considerations of AI in reproductive technologies.
• The impact of AI on the real estate industry.
• The use of AI in improving traffic management systems.
• The challenges of AI in detecting and preventing misinformation.
• The role of AI in enhancing personalized medicine.
• The impact of AI on the insurance industry.
• The potential of AI in improving water resource management.
• The ethical implications of AI in criminal justice systems.
• The impact of AI on the travel and tourism industry.
• The use of AI in improving energy consumption patterns.
• The challenges of AI in detecting and preventing online harassment.
• The role of AI in enhancing personalized learning experiences.
• The impact of AI on the banking and finance industry.
• The potential of AI in improving air quality monitoring.
• The ethical considerations of AI in social media algorithms.
• The impact of AI on the food and beverage industry.
• The use of AI in improving urban waste disposal systems.
• The challenges of AI in detecting and preventing online fraud.
• The role of AI in enhancing virtual reality training programs.
• The impact of AI on the telecommunications industry.
• The potential of AI in improving public health surveillance.
• The ethical implications of AI in digital advertising.
• The impact of AI on the retail and e-commerce industry.
• The use of AI in improving disaster risk assessment.
• The challenges of AI in detecting and preventing online radicalization.
• The role of AI in enhancing personalized customer experiences.
• The impact of AI on the automotive industry.
• The potential of AI in improving waste recycling processes.
• The ethical considerations of AI in social credit systems.
• The impact of AI on the fashion and beauty industry.
• The use of AI in improving disaster early warning systems.
• The challenges of AI in detecting and preventing online scams.
• The role of AI in enhancing virtual reality therapy.
• The impact of AI on the pharmaceutical industry.
• The potential of AI in improving disaster response coordination.

These essay topic ideas and examples cover a wide range of areas where artificial intelligence is making an impact. Choose a topic that interests you the most and conduct thorough research to gather relevant information and data to support your arguments. Remember to critically analyze the ethical implications and challenges associated with the topic, as well as the potential benefits and limitations of AI applications. Good luck with your essay!

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How to Write an Essay Using AI

Artificial intelligence has progressed to the point where AI tools can now assist with writing everything from essays and articles to books. AI writing assistants act as an editor, wordsmith or even creator to help students, academics, bloggers and authors produce better quality content with greater efficiency.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll overview everything you need to know to get started writing essays with AI including:

• How AI essay writing assistants work
• The top apps and sites providing AI writing help
• What types of essay writing they can help with
• Templates and examples for getting started
• Capabilities and limitations to be aware of
• Tips to incorporate AI writing effectively in your workflow

Let’s dive in to harnessing this transformative technology for your next essay!

How Does AI Help With Writing Essays?

AI applications approach essay writing assistance in a few key ways:

• Brainstorming - AI can provide relevant ideas, concepts, perspectives and arguments around a topic to include as evidence.
• Outlining - The best tools create organized essay outlines ensuring logical flow and structure.
• Drafting - Apps can generate complete multi-paragraph drafts on a topic which writers can then edit.
• Editing - Most offer grammar, spelling, style and even depth of analysis checks to improve drafts.
• Paraphrasing - This helps rewrite existing text or source information in your own words.
• Citing sources - Some apps automatically cite sources and generate bibliographies properly formatted.

The level of actual writing versus enhancing human writing varies across solutions, so research thoroughly to find your best match.

Top 5 AI Essay Writing Assistants

After evaluating dozens of writing apps, these 5 provide the best results for essay creation specifically:

Just Think AI

An AI chat with A Human Touch . Enhance your productivity with Just Think Chat, a user-friendly AI chatbot. Overcome writers block, generate ideas, revise content, or get answer effortlessly.

Article Forge

Article Forge has a strong academic focus, with an Essay mode specifically for crafting logical arguments and persuasive essays filled with cited facts. Ideal for research paper help.

Rytr boasts specialized intelligence for writing clear, compelling arguments in blogs, essays and more. It asks probing questions then incorporates your answers into drafts.

INK Associate

INK Associate enhances your writing productivity by suggesting ways to improve clarity, concision and comprehension. Great for proofreading and editing.

GPT-3 Essay Writer

Tools harnessing OpenAI's GPT-3 like Essay Writer create remarkably human-like essays. Requires more guidance to stay on-topic.

Essay Types AI Can Assist With

Some apps are specialized for specific types of essays required in academia and standardized testing. Here are key genres supported:

Argumentative Essays

Arguing a position with logic and evidence cited. Tools help craft sound premises, counterarguments and impactful conclusions.

Persuasive Essays

Similar to argumentative but specifically aimed at swaying the reader regarding policies, interpretations, theories or actions.

Compare and Contrast

Analyzing the similarities and differences between concepts, works or phenomena. Tools ensure clear links are made.

Research Papers

Long form essays synthesizing research around a thesis. AI helps format like academic papers with citations and bibliographies.

Narrative Essays

Telling an entertaining or impactful personal story. Apps assist with structures that emotionally resonate with readers.

Scholarship Essays

Presenting your background, accomplishments and goals in the best possible light. AI ensures relevance to prompt.

Essay Writing Templates and Examples

When first utilizing an AI writing assistant, it's helpful to have templates and examples to base your prompt off.

Here are prompts for common academic essay types you can customize:

Argumentative Essay

Topic: {Topic to argue}

Length: {Word count}

Words Style: Academic argumentative essay

Arguments for: {2-3 strongest arguments}

Arguments against: {The main counterargument}

Conclusion: {Your position} is the better policy because {reasons}.

For example:

Topic: All students should be required to learn coding Length: 800 words Style: Academic argumentative essay Arguments for: Coding teaches logical thinking, prepares for most careers, provides problem solving skills Arguments against: Adds additional schoolwork burden, benefits small subset of students   Conclusion: Mandatory coding classes are the better policy because the skills help nearly all future career paths.

Persuasive Essay

Audience: {Teacher, peer students, university alumni, etc} Thesis: Convince the audience that {position, interpretation, action} is {superior, correct, moral, just, etc} because {2-3 strongest reasons}

Supporting evidence: {facts, expert opinions, personal anecdotes} Counterarguments to address: {The main opposition position}

Style: {Formal or casual} persuasive essay

Audience: School principal Thesis: Convince the principal that allowing cell phones in class is the better policy because it enables learning tech skills, accessing information, and improved safety. Supporting evidence: Studies show benefits, students can film dangerous behaviors Counterarguments: It enables distractions, cheating and unwanted sharing Style: Semi-formal persuasive essay

Capabilities and Limitations of AI Essay Help

Understanding what essay writing AI can and cannot yet do will lead to the most successful experience:

Capabilities:

• Analyze prompts and determine optimal content and structure
• Generate complete drafts with readable flow and style
• Check spelling, grammar, and catch insensitive phrasing
• Format citations and bibliographies for academic integrity
• Develop arguments backed by evidence and reasoning

Limitations:

• Cannot deeply understand nuanced contexts and sentiments
• Struggles evaluating logical consistencies and factual accuracy
• Limited ability checking overall coherence and impact
• Does not build long-term memory, concepts and wisdom
• Cannot object in any way or cease participation

Use AI as a production assistant rather than independent author until the technology matures further in key reasoning areas in the coming years.

Tips for Using AI Effectively To Write Essays

To leverage these amazing tools most effectively and ethically, we recommend:

• Curate source materials - Feed the AI relevant, factual sources representing diverse perspectives.
• Outline the draft first - Guide arguments and structure before having AI compose full paragraphs and sentences.
• Check accuracy - Ensure factual truth and logical reasoning in arguments made.
• Maintain authorship - Edit, rearrange and rewrite elements in your own voice and style.
• Let the tool inspire new directions and arguments you may not have considered.
• Enjoy the productivity boost these tools offer our constrained time and minds!

We hope this guide has been helpful in getting started with AI assistants for leveling up your essay writing across school, work and passion projects!

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• Knowledge Base
• How to write an argumentative essay | Examples & tips

How to Write an Argumentative Essay | Examples & Tips

Published on July 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

An argumentative essay expresses an extended argument for a particular thesis statement . The author takes a clearly defined stance on their subject and builds up an evidence-based case for it.

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Table of contents

When do you write an argumentative essay, approaches to argumentative essays, introducing your argument, the body: developing your argument, concluding your argument, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about argumentative essays.

You might be assigned an argumentative essay as a writing exercise in high school or in a composition class. The prompt will often ask you to argue for one of two positions, and may include terms like “argue” or “argument.” It will frequently take the form of a question.

The prompt may also be more open-ended in terms of the possible arguments you could make.

Argumentative writing at college level

At university, the vast majority of essays or papers you write will involve some form of argumentation. For example, both rhetorical analysis and literary analysis essays involve making arguments about texts.

In this context, you won’t necessarily be told to write an argumentative essay—but making an evidence-based argument is an essential goal of most academic writing, and this should be your default approach unless you’re told otherwise.

Examples of argumentative essay prompts

At a university level, all the prompts below imply an argumentative essay as the appropriate response.

Your research should lead you to develop a specific position on the topic. The essay then argues for that position and aims to convince the reader by presenting your evidence, evaluation and analysis.

• Don’t just list all the effects you can think of.
• Do develop a focused argument about the overall effect and why it matters, backed up by evidence from sources.
• Don’t just provide a selection of data on the measures’ effectiveness.
• Do build up your own argument about which kinds of measures have been most or least effective, and why.
• Don’t just analyze a random selection of doppelgänger characters.
• Do form an argument about specific texts, comparing and contrasting how they express their thematic concerns through doppelgänger characters.

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An argumentative essay should be objective in its approach; your arguments should rely on logic and evidence, not on exaggeration or appeals to emotion.

There are many possible approaches to argumentative essays, but there are two common models that can help you start outlining your arguments: The Toulmin model and the Rogerian model.

Toulmin arguments

The Toulmin model consists of four steps, which may be repeated as many times as necessary for the argument:

• Make a claim
• Provide the grounds (evidence) for the claim
• Explain the warrant (how the grounds support the claim)
• Discuss possible rebuttals to the claim, identifying the limits of the argument and showing that you have considered alternative perspectives

The Toulmin model is a common approach in academic essays. You don’t have to use these specific terms (grounds, warrants, rebuttals), but establishing a clear connection between your claims and the evidence supporting them is crucial in an argumentative essay.

Say you’re making an argument about the effectiveness of workplace anti-discrimination measures. You might:

• Claim that unconscious bias training does not have the desired results, and resources would be better spent on other approaches
• Cite data to support your claim
• Explain how the data indicates that the method is ineffective
• Anticipate objections to your claim based on other data, indicating whether these objections are valid, and if not, why not.

Rogerian arguments

The Rogerian model also consists of four steps you might repeat throughout your essay:

• Discuss what the opposing position gets right and why people might hold this position
• Highlight the problems with this position
• Present your own position , showing how it addresses these problems
• Suggest a possible compromise —what elements of your position would proponents of the opposing position benefit from adopting?

This model builds up a clear picture of both sides of an argument and seeks a compromise. It is particularly useful when people tend to disagree strongly on the issue discussed, allowing you to approach opposing arguments in good faith.

Say you want to argue that the internet has had a positive impact on education. You might:

• Acknowledge that students rely too much on websites like Wikipedia
• Argue that teachers view Wikipedia as more unreliable than it really is
• Suggest that Wikipedia’s system of citations can actually teach students about referencing
• Suggest critical engagement with Wikipedia as a possible assignment for teachers who are skeptical of its usefulness.

You don’t necessarily have to pick one of these models—you may even use elements of both in different parts of your essay—but it’s worth considering them if you struggle to structure your arguments.

Regardless of which approach you take, your essay should always be structured using an introduction , a body , and a conclusion .

Like other academic essays, an argumentative essay begins with an introduction . The introduction serves to capture the reader’s interest, provide background information, present your thesis statement , and (in longer essays) to summarize the structure of the body.

Hover over different parts of the example below to see how a typical introduction works.

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts is on the rise, and its role in learning is hotly debated. For many teachers who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its critical benefits for students and educators—as a uniquely comprehensive and accessible information source; a means of exposure to and engagement with different perspectives; and a highly flexible learning environment.

The body of an argumentative essay is where you develop your arguments in detail. Here you’ll present evidence, analysis, and reasoning to convince the reader that your thesis statement is true.

In the standard five-paragraph format for short essays, the body takes up three of your five paragraphs. In longer essays, it will be more paragraphs, and might be divided into sections with headings.

Each paragraph covers its own topic, introduced with a topic sentence . Each of these topics must contribute to your overall argument; don’t include irrelevant information.

This example paragraph takes a Rogerian approach: It first acknowledges the merits of the opposing position and then highlights problems with that position.

Hover over different parts of the example to see how a body paragraph is constructed.

A common frustration for teachers is students’ use of Wikipedia as a source in their writing. Its prevalence among students is not exaggerated; a survey found that the vast majority of the students surveyed used Wikipedia (Head & Eisenberg, 2010). An article in The Guardian stresses a common objection to its use: “a reliance on Wikipedia can discourage students from engaging with genuine academic writing” (Coomer, 2013). Teachers are clearly not mistaken in viewing Wikipedia usage as ubiquitous among their students; but the claim that it discourages engagement with academic sources requires further investigation. This point is treated as self-evident by many teachers, but Wikipedia itself explicitly encourages students to look into other sources. Its articles often provide references to academic publications and include warning notes where citations are missing; the site’s own guidelines for research make clear that it should be used as a starting point, emphasizing that users should always “read the references and check whether they really do support what the article says” (“Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia,” 2020). Indeed, for many students, Wikipedia is their first encounter with the concepts of citation and referencing. The use of Wikipedia therefore has a positive side that merits deeper consideration than it often receives.

An argumentative essay ends with a conclusion that summarizes and reflects on the arguments made in the body.

No new arguments or evidence appear here, but in longer essays you may discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your argument and suggest topics for future research. In all conclusions, you should stress the relevance and importance of your argument.

Hover over the following example to see the typical elements of a conclusion.

The internet has had a major positive impact on the world of education; occasional pitfalls aside, its value is evident in numerous applications. The future of teaching lies in the possibilities the internet opens up for communication, research, and interactivity. As the popularity of distance learning shows, students value the flexibility and accessibility offered by digital education, and educators should fully embrace these advantages. The internet’s dangers, real and imaginary, have been documented exhaustively by skeptics, but the internet is here to stay; it is time to focus seriously on its potential for good.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy

College essays

• Choosing Essay Topic
• Write a College Essay
• Write a Diversity Essay
• College Essay Format & Structure
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An argumentative essay tends to be a longer essay involving independent research, and aims to make an original argument about a topic. Its thesis statement makes a contentious claim that must be supported in an objective, evidence-based way.

An expository essay also aims to be objective, but it doesn’t have to make an original argument. Rather, it aims to explain something (e.g., a process or idea) in a clear, concise way. Expository essays are often shorter assignments and rely less on research.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

The majority of the essays written at university are some sort of argumentative essay . Unless otherwise specified, you can assume that the goal of any essay you’re asked to write is argumentative: To convince the reader of your position using evidence and reasoning.

In composition classes you might be given assignments that specifically test your ability to write an argumentative essay. Look out for prompts including instructions like “argue,” “assess,” or “discuss” to see if this is the goal.

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Argumentative Essay Evaluator

Ai-powered evaluation of argumentative essays.

• Assess a student's essay: Evaluate the strength and coherence of a student's argumentative essay, providing detailed feedback to guide improvement.
• Improve your own writing: Submit your own argumentative essay for analysis to identify areas of strength and areas for improvement.
• Prepare for an exam: Use the tool to practice and improve your essay writing skills in preparation for an exam.
• Teaching tool: Educators can use this tool to provide comprehensive feedback to students, helping them understand how to improve their argumentative writing.

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How to Write An Argumentative Essay (With Examples)

Are you looking for ways how to write an argumentative essay check out these helpful examples.

An argumentative essay is a writing genre that obligates the writer to examine a topic; collect, generate, and evaluate proof; and clearly present a perspective on the issue. It can be tricky to write, but with a little practice, they can become relatively easy.

To write an argumentative essay, it is important to always have a strong argument as your topic and should greatly rely on evidence and logic. However, there is a slight bit of wiggle room within your essay. For example, your thesis statement may include an opinion or a controversial idea, and while you should still support it with facts, it is possible to add your opinion to the essay without going against the objective of the essay.

If you want to create a high-quality argumentative essay, Jenni.ai is here for you! This AI-assistant writing software can easily help you with writing any kind of academic paper, including your argumentative essay.

Tips on how to make an Argumentative Essay

Creating an argumentative essay can be quite daunting, especially if you are not used to writing this kind of essay. However, there are some simple guidelines you can follow to ensure that your essay will be both coherent and convincing:

Make sure to choose a topic with strong talking points. This makes it easier to form strong coherent arguments that will dictate the direction you want to take with your essay.

Use the correct tone when creating your argumentative essay. People mistake assertiveness in argumentative essays to mean being aggressive and argumentative, which will not win you any points with your readers. Convincing arguments should be presented calmly and clearly in the introduction section of your essay, with supporting information being presented throughout the body of your essay.

Make sure to use factual statements when presenting your arguments. This is important if you are writing an academic essay as this ensures that your arguments are well-researched and thought out. Fact-based research is always more reliable than opinions.

Keep your arguments logical and concise. This will make it easy for your readers to follow your train of thought and helps to keep them engaged throughout the essay.

Make sure that you indicate all the relevant talking points in a clear and concise manner in your conclusion section.

Always make sure to proofread your work thoroughly throughout your writing process because typos and grammatical errors will greatly affect the quality and credibility of your work.

With these tips in mind, you are on your way to creating a high-quality argumentative essay that is easy to understand and will be compelling to your readers. 

How to create an Outline for your Argumentative Essay

As we already know, creating an argumentative essay involves a strong topic in order to create a strong argument. Creating an outline for it is a lot easier than most people think, especially for beginners. Here are some simple steps to create an argumentative essay:

1. Research your topic - As mentioned above, you will need to carry out in-depth research to find suitable evidence to back up your argument. If you know what you are going to write about before carrying out your research, then you will be able to structure it more easily. 

2. Introduction - In this part of your essay, you will want to introduce the reader to the topic that you will be discussing. The introductory paragraph works like a hook to entice your readers about your interesting topic. Make sure to create an introduction that is easy to understand so that your readers will be interested in reading. A good way to do this is by providing them with a brief background about the topic so that they understand it better.

3. Hypothesis or Premise - This is where you present your main arguments about your topic. You could provide questions to answer or evidence to support your claims. It will serve as the basis for the argument in your essay. Keep in mind that you will need to support all of your points with evidence from your research.

4. Body - Like any good argumentative essay, your body should contain all of the supporting evidence that you will use to support your argument. Each body paragraph should be dedicated to a different point that you would like to make. Body paragraphs cover different pieces of evidence that you provide to support your claims throughout the essay.

5. Conclusion - This is where you create a summary of all your talking points. This could also serve as a brief refresher of what you have discussed in the body of the essay. The conclusion is one of the most important parts of your essay because this is where you rebut the opposing arguments and remind your reader of the key points that you have discussed in the paper.

Types of Argumentative Essay

1. Rogerian Argumentative Essay - This type of essay is great for controversial topics because its creator, Carl Rogers intended this essay type to be as tame and respectful as possible.

The Rogerian style is centred around maintaining a balance between the two sides of the argument rather than siding with one opinion over the other. After both sides have been considered, a great way to end this essay is with a proper resolution of all the arguments presented. Usually, this results in finding a way to bring the two sides together rather than permanently sidelining one opinion over another.

This approach promotes both intellectual honesty and responsible thinking, which is a great way to approach an argumentative essay!

2. Classic Argumentative Essay - This type of argumentative essay entices the reader to a certain point of view.

This style is developed by Aristotle and it requires the reader to look at both sides of the argument while ultimately deciding which one is the most concise and factual. An essay like this requires a presentation of claims and counterarguments as well as an overall claim about the topic being argued over.

3. Toulmin Argumentative Essay - Arguments are broken down into multiple elements in order to prove a point. The main elements to follow with the Toulmin argumentative essay are the claim, grounds, warrant, qualifier, rebuttal, and backing.

The claim is the thesis that is being argued for, while the grounds are the arguments that back up the claim.

The warrant is the argument from which the claim can be proven; this can be based on historical data, social or cultural research, or scientific research.

The qualifier is the explanation that explains the basis on which the claim was made and the justification provided to justify the claim.

The rebuttal is the part where you respond to the claims that have been presented against your claim. This can be used to acknowledge an opposing viewpoint by proving your reasoning and logic are stronger or more logical than theirs.

And the backing is the part of your essay where you convince your reader to take a side in the argument.

The Toulmin argument is best used when there could be several possible solutions to a certain argument. This style is also very useful for debates and discussions because it allows both sides of an argument to be laid out for consideration.

Argumentative Essay Examples

Now that we've explained the different types of argumentative essays as well as useful tips you can use throughout your writing process, here are some excerpt examples of the different types of argumentative essays:

1. Is School Conductive to Learning? (Classical Argumentative Essay)

"If students get As on a test then they know the material, right? How many of those students would still know the information if you asked them about a week later? How about a month later? Most students will not remember most of the information for very long after the test. Why is that? They learned it, didn't they? Well, that depends on how you define "learning". "Learning" is gaining knowledge and experience which stays in the long-term memory and is of value to the recipient. So we have to ask, is our education system really teaching children?

The way education is set up in this country is simple. There is usually only one teacher in a classroom teaching from 12 to 30 students at a time. Information is written on a blackboard in the front of the room while the children take notes and listen. There may be some variation depending on the school and teacher. Then the students are tested on the material. After the test, the class moves on to new information. The material is usually not looked at again until a final test at the end of the semester, for which students study very hard a few days before. If they pass the test it is assumed that they "learned" the information, regardless of if they forget it later. Our education system is not only not enhancing learning but may actually be inhibiting it.

The education system in the United States today treats the minds of children like bowls to be filled with information. What it does not realize is that if you fill a bowl too quickly most of the liquid will bounce back out. It is the same with the mind of a child. When they are given too much information in such a small amount of time very little of it is actually retained. This is because of the vast amount of information students are given in very small amounts of time. Children study a single topic for two weeks to a month and then they are tested on it. After the test, they study something different for the next two weeks to a month. This causes the previous information to be forgotten and replaced by new information. This means that children end up with only very general knowledge of the topics studied.

A few children do learn this quickly, but not very many. Children learn at greatly varying paces, however, schools assume that all children learn at the same speed. This causes many children to be very frustrated and give up trying to learn. Many children who learn at a slower pace fall behind beyond any hope of catching up. Often the children who learn more quickly get bored and give up completely. Many of these children begin associating learning with boredom or frustration and actually start to dislike and even fight against learning.

Our system of schooling is not set up the way it should be. It was created to enhance learning, to teach children what they needed to know. It has strayed from that purpose. Our school system not only does not teach, but it turns students away from learning. Our children deserve better than this. They deserve to be shown how much fun and how beneficial learning can be. Learning can be what gives our lives value, but we are cheating our children of that. The school system needs to be seriously looked at and changed. The future of our world could be shaped by how well our children are prepared for it. They will be better prepared for it if they are shown how important and how rewarding knowledge and confidence can be. If our children are given these building blocks then they will become stronger adults and they will enhance the structure of the human world."

2. Helmets: Life or Liberty? (Rogerian Argumentative Essay)

"Snowboarding and snow skiing are two of the most enjoyed recreational sports in the world today. They give a unique sense of freedom and satisfaction that is unlike any other sport that can offer. Rob Reichenfeld remarked after his first lesson, “When you’re onto a good thing you stick with it, and like millions around the world I had discovered something undefinably special” (2). The freedom to carve down an entire mountain as fast or as slowly as desired, to drop off a twenty-foot cliff into five feet of fluff, to weave a line through a patch of technical trees, or to float down a steep face with bottomless powder is just a few reasons so many people are determined to make it to the mountains every year in search of a supreme rush. Snow sports provide an outlet for people to express themselves in unconventional ways by taking risks they normally would not take.

Snow sports are becoming more popular than ever before. They are prevalent in movies such as Extreme Days, Out Cold, several James Bond films, and Aspen Extreme, just to name a few. Now we see the X Games on television and snow sports in the Olympics. And the commercial market has taken full advantage of the extreme side of these sports as well. Mountain Dew has created an entire marketing scheme based solely on extreme sports, with snowboarding being a large part. Not only are snow sports becoming exceeding popular in the media, but more and more newcomers are also picking up a board or a set of skis every day of the winter season.

Along with all of this new popularity and thousands of new partakers in these sports, head injuries are becoming an increasing element of the equation. Although the percentage of head injuries due to snow sports is fairly low, about 0.3—6.5 skiers or snowboarders per thousand a day (“Heads you win?…”), a lot of people are affected when you consider how many thousands of people might be skiing or snowboarding in the entire U.S. on any given day. These numbers have raised a question of some magnitude: should ski resorts intrude on their guests’ individual liberties by implementing helmet rules?

Helmets do have several distinct drawbacks, despite their many benefits. Though opinions are starting to change, helmets are sometimes viewed as uncool or “nerdy”. These ideas are similar to those people used to have about motorcycle helmets, car seat belts, bicycle helmets, and skating elbow- and kneepads. Initially, it seems, any form of safety equipment gets a bad rap, especially from a young crowd that has no real concern for bodily harm.

The benefits of wearing head protection while resort skiing or snowboarding greatly outweigh the disadvantages, so such protective headgear should be required by all ski resorts. With the improvements being made in the comfort, stylishness, and effectiveness of helmets in the industry, there are no excuses left for skiers or boarders not to be wearing them. These types of resort rules could save countless lives as well as possibly save innumerable tax dollars that are spent on the medical costs of people who receive brain damage as a result of snow sport-induced head trauma. Such rules would also serve to lower lift ticket prices, as less money would be spent by resorts to defending against lawsuits brought on by head trauma victims. It would be to the benefit of everyone in the snow sports community if such regulations were to be put into place. I hope that they will indeed be applied in the near future, further insuring many more years of safe and exhilarating snow sporting."  

3. The Power of Black Panther (Toulmin)

  "Despite it just hitting theatres, Black Panther is already labelled as a ‘cultural movement’. Many Marvel fans eagerly waited to see the movie while discussions exploded on social media about Marvel’s new black superhero. However, not all of the discussions have stayed peaceful. With the emergence of this hero comes the emergence of the timeless debate of race, more specifically race in the media and how it is presented. There are some who say that having a black hero should not be this big of a deal and they deny the need for heroes of colour. Morals are colourless; we’ve learned from and enjoyed the millions of white heroes, so why is this black hero so special?

The issue here runs far deeper than this and goes beyond comic book characters. The real issue is the overall representation of minority groups in America. There needs to be a better representation of minorities in media to help the majority understand them and to help minorities feel a part of society. These are important factors in peace and unity within our nation. II. For the longest time, white men have dominated all American media industries, especially cishet men. Cishet refers to a person who is both cisgender and heterosexual. Over the years, women and minorities have fought to get where they are Background and issue questionClaimDefinitionDunne 2in the media today. They are now performing more and more roles outside of their stereotypes.

We need a more understanding majority and minorities who feel like they are an equal part of society, in order to come together and work for a better nation. Having fair media representation for minorities is a vital key to doing so. With the current hate destroying our country, we need to educate ourselves and each other. What better way to change a nation obsessed with its media, than with the media?" 

Creating argumentative essays is quite a complex process and there are multiple styles and ways to approach it. The goal of the process is to convince the audience of your point of view based on evidence or facts rather than personal opinions.

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Home — Essay Samples — Information Science and Technology — Modern Technology — Artificial Intelligence

Essays on Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence essay topics for college students.

Welcome, college students! Writing an essay on artificial intelligence can be an exciting and challenging task. The key to a successful essay lies in selecting the right topic that sparks your interest and allows you to showcase your creativity. In this resource page, we will provide you with a variety of essay types and topics to help you get started on your AI essay journey.

Argumentative Essay Topic for Artificial Intelligence Essays

• The ethical implications of AI technology
• The impact of AI on job automation
• Regulating AI development for societal benefits

Introduction Paragraph Example: Artificial intelligence has revolutionized the way we interact with technology, raising important ethical questions about its implications on society. In this essay, we will explore the ethical challenges of AI technology and discuss the need for regulations to ensure its responsible development.

Conclusion Paragraph Example: In conclusion, it is evident that the ethical implications of AI technology are multifaceted and require careful consideration. By implementing regulations and ethical guidelines, we can harness the benefits of AI while minimizing its potential risks.

Compare and Contrast Essay Topics for Artificial Intelligence

• The differences between narrow AI and general AI
• Comparing AI in science fiction to real-world applications
• The impact of AI on different industries
• AI vs. human intelligence: Strengths and weaknesses
• Machine learning vs. deep learning
• AI in healthcare vs. AI in finance
• AI-driven automation vs. traditional automation
• Cloud-based AI vs. edge AI
• The role of AI in developed vs. developing countries
• AI in education vs. AI in entertainment

Introduction Paragraph Example: The field of artificial intelligence encompasses a wide range of technologies, from narrow AI systems designed for specific tasks to the hypothetical concept of general AI capable of human-like intelligence. In this essay, we will compare and contrast the characteristics of narrow and general AI to understand their implications on society.

Conclusion Paragraph Example: Through this comparison, we have gained insights into the diverse applications of AI technology and the potential challenges it poses to various industries. By understanding the differences between narrow and general AI, we can better prepare for the future of artificial intelligence.

Descriptive Essay Essay Topics for Artificial Intelligence

• The role of AI in healthcare advancements
• The development of AI algorithms for autonomous vehicles
• The applications of AI in natural language processing
• The architecture of neural networks
• The evolution of AI from the 20th century to today
• The ethical implications of AI decision-making
• The process of training an AI model
• The impact of AI on the job market
• The future potential of quantum AI
• The role of AI in personalized marketing

Introduction Paragraph Example: AI technology has transformed the healthcare industry, enabling innovative solutions that improve patient care and diagnosis accuracy. In this essay, we will explore the role of AI in healthcare advancements and its impact on the future of medicine.

Conclusion Paragraph Example: In conclusion, the integration of AI technology in healthcare has the potential to revolutionize the way we approach patient care and medical research. By leveraging AI algorithms and machine learning capabilities, we can achieve significant advancements in the field of medicine.

Persuasive Essay Essay Topics for Artificial Intelligence

• Promoting diversity and inclusion in AI development
• The importance of ethical AI education in schools
• Advocating for AI transparency and accountability
• The necessity of regulating AI technology
• Why AI should be used to combat climate change
• The benefits of AI in improving public safety
• Encouraging responsible AI usage in social media
• The potential of AI to revolutionize education
• Why businesses should invest in AI technology
• The role of AI in enhancing cybersecurity

Introduction Paragraph Example: As artificial intelligence continues to permeate various aspects of our lives, it is essential to prioritize diversity and inclusion in AI development to ensure equitable outcomes for all individuals. In this essay, we will discuss the importance of promoting diversity and inclusion in AI initiatives and the benefits it brings to society.

Conclusion Paragraph Example: By advocating for diversity and inclusion in AI development, we can create a more equitable and socially responsible future for artificial intelligence. Through ethical education and transparent practices, we can build a foundation of trust and accountability in AI technology.

Narrative Essay Essay Topics for Artificial Intelligence

• A day in the life of an AI researcher
• The journey of building your first AI project
• An imaginary conversation with a sentient AI being
• The story of a world transformed by AI
• How AI solved a major global problem
• A personal encounter with AI technology
• The evolution of AI in your lifetime
• The challenges faced while developing an AI startup
• A future where AI coexists with humans
• Your experience learning about AI for the first time

Introduction Paragraph Example: Imagine a world where artificial intelligence blurs the lines between human and machine, offering new possibilities and ethical dilemmas. In this narrative essay, we will embark on a journey through the eyes of an AI researcher, exploring the challenges and discoveries that come with pushing the boundaries of technology.

Conclusion Paragraph Example: Through this narrative journey, we have delved into the complexities of artificial intelligence and the ethical considerations that accompany its development. By embracing the possibilities of AI technology while acknowledging its limitations, we can shape a future that balances innovation with ethical responsibility.

Hooks for Artificial Intelligence Essay

• "Imagine a world where machines not only perform tasks but also think, learn, and make decisions just like humans. Welcome to the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI), a revolutionary force reshaping our future."
• "From self-driving cars to smart personal assistants, AI is seamlessly integrating into our daily lives. But what lies beneath this cutting-edge technology, and how will it transform the way we live and work?"
• "As AI continues to advance at an unprecedented pace, questions about its ethical implications and impact on society become more urgent. Can we control the intelligence we create, or will it control us?"
• "AI is not just a futuristic concept confined to science fiction. It’s here, and it’s real, influencing industries, healthcare, education, and even our personal lives. How prepared are we for this technological revolution?"
• "The debate over AI is heating up: Will it lead to a utopian society with endless possibilities, or is it a Pandora's box with risks we have yet to fully understand? The answers may surprise you."

Artificial Intelligence: a Threat Or a Potential Boon

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Artificial Intelligence: Good and Bad Effects for Humanity

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The Possibility of Humanity to Succumb to Artificial Intelligence

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Artificial Intelligence: Applications, Advantages and Disanvantages

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Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the intellectual capabilities exhibited by machines, contrasting with the innate intelligence observed in living beings, such as animals and humans.

The inception of artificial intelligence research as an academic field can be traced back to its establishment in 1956. It was during the renowned Dartmouth conference of the same year that artificial intelligence acquired its distinctive name, definitive purpose, initial accomplishments, and notable pioneers, thereby earning its reputation as the birthplace of AI. The esteemed figures of Marvin Minsky and John McCarthy are widely recognized as the founding fathers of this discipline.

• The term "artificial intelligence" was coined in 1956 by computer scientist John McCarthy.
• McKinsey Global Institute estimates that by 2030, automation and AI technologies could contribute to a global economic impact of $13 trillion.
• AI is used in various industries, including healthcare, finance, and transportation.
• The healthcare industry is leveraging AI for improved patient care. A study published in the journal Nature Medicine reported that an AI model was able to detect breast cancer with an accuracy of 94.5%, outperforming human radiologists.
• Ethical concerns surrounding AI include privacy issues, bias in algorithms, and the potential for job displacement.

Artificial Intelligence is an important topic because it has the potential to revolutionize industries, improve efficiency, and enhance decision-making processes. As AI technology continues to advance, it is crucial for society to understand its implications, both positive and negative, in order to harness its benefits while mitigating its risks.

1. Russell, S. J., & Norvig, P. (2016). Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (3rd ed.). Prentice Hall. 2. Goodfellow, I., Bengio, Y., & Courville, A. (2016). Deep Learning. MIT Press. 3. Kurzweil, R. (2005). The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. Viking. 4. Bostrom, N. (2014). Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies. Oxford University Press. 5. Chollet, F. (2017). Deep Learning with Python. Manning Publications. 6. Domingos, P. (2018). The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World. Basic Books. 7. Ng, A. (2017). Machine Learning Yearning. deeplearning.ai. 8. Marcus, G. (2018). Rebooting AI: Building Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust. Vintage. 9. Winfield, A. (2018). Robotics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. 10. Shalev-Shwartz, S., & Ben-David, S. (2014). Understanding Machine Learning: From Theory to Algorithms. Cambridge University Press.

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Argumentative Essay Example on Artificial Intelligence in MLA

Like we discussed in our previous blog, argumentative essays are complicated to write. In most cases, having a look at the examples of argumentative essays can help you construct ideas and write yours. In this blog, we present to you an example of an MLA argumentative essay on Artificial Intelligence as a solution more than a threat. When writing an argumentative essay, it is a chance to present your prowess ion sharing with the audience why both options are considerable. Also, just like in a persuasive essay you can persuade the readers to adopt your side of the argument. In this respect, either side of the arguments on argumentative essay topics is presented, including a counterargument. The conclusion should then make clear what is in the body of the essay.

Provided you have a great topic for your essay, enough and proper evidence to back your claims, and facts to refute the opponent's viewpoint, you can always write convincing arguments. A strong thesis is a must for an argumentative essay. So is the conclusion, which must stand out. Look at this top-grade argumentative essay example and learn the art.

Argumentative Essay Example: Artificial Intelligence: A Solution more than a Threat

The debate on the future of making in the age of computers remains to be a hotly contested debate in the public, professional, and scholarly spheres. Within the stem of the debate, there have been fears in the fast growing field of computing referred to as artificial intelligence.  Artificial intelligence or AI is a term that was originally coined in the 1950s by John McCarthy, and it simply means machine intelligence. It is the field of computer science that deals with the study of the systems that act or behave in a way that an observer sees them as intelligent and using human and animal intelligent behavior models in solving sophisticated problems (Kaplan 1). Even though portrayed as a threat on account of the loss of jobs, AI is a promising solution for medical applications with efficiency and high precision compared to humans and in disaster response.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has proven to be a solution to natural disasters abound to affect different places globally. The success of any humanitarian intervention depends on quality information, which is in the heart AI systems. For example, the Artificial Intelligence Disaster Response (AIDR) has been applied in different catastrophes in enabling the coordination between machines and human intelligence in coordination response operations (Imran et al. 159). During such events, AIDR allows for the coordination of drones, sensors, and robots to acquire, synthesize and produce accurate information based on the landscapes, thus making rescue less-time consuming and easier (Imran et al. 159-160). It has been used in the Nepal earthquake in the mobilization of volunteers as well as in the Chile earthquake in evacuation processes, in 2015 (EKU). Therefore, artificial intelligence offers high precision and accuracy in solving tasks that are otherwise complicated and time-consuming to humans.

Apart from disaster response, Artificial Intelligence also plays a critical role in the field of medicine including research, training, and diagnosis of diseases. In fact, Medical Artificial Intelligence deals with the construction of AI systems and programs that can make diagnosis and therapy recommendations easier (Moein xi). The medical field uses AI techniques such as Expert systems and Knowledge-based systems. These systems offer the clinicians and other medical professionals the ability to do data mining that is used in interpreting complex diagnostic tests. Such tests and results are accurate since the AI systems integrate information from various sources to offer patient-specific therapy and treatment recommendations (Moein 2). AI-supported medical diagnosis is correct and provides information for both the patients and the experts for effective decision making. As such, it is evident that artificial intelligence has not only revolutionized the medical field but promises its sustainability.

Despite being a savior to humankind in the field of medicine and natural disaster response, AI presents the existential threat of loss of jobs. Research predicts that artificial intelligence already has and poses an existential threat to the labor market. The emergence of intelligent algorithms that control robots has led to the loss of jobs that are otherwise tiring and monotonous to humans (Kaplan 113). For example, artificial intelligence controls the robots that are used in the design and manufacture of vehicles. In this case, the people formerly employed in the industry have lost jobs. In a study by researchers at Oxford University, it emerged that the recent emergence of machine learning and robotics will significantly affect the U.S. labor market, with 47% of the jobs being at risk of automation (Kaplan 118). Even so, not all jobs in entirety will be affected. Rather, even the existence of AI in the workplace would require the support of experts, which is also another frontier for job creation. In sum, even though AI poses a threat to the labor market, it creates an avenue for employment as well.

In conclusion, amidst the fear that artificial intelligence is a threat, either now or in the future, it is clear that it has substantial and critical benefits for humans. Using the systems that mimic human and animal intelligence is the next frontier in solving problems within society. In fact, in its definition, AI seeks to create solutions to complex problems. In this respect, its application in medicine could help in creating a breakthrough in finding the cure for chronic diseases such as cancer and HIV that are affecting masses.  Furthermore, as man increases activity on the earth's surface nature is poised to fight back through natural disasters. In this case, AI comes handy as a partner to help humans prevent the aftermath of disasters. The only threat posed by AI is the loss of jobs, which again is predictable and has been a progressive issue. Even in doing so, AI presents an opportunity for job creation. Therefore, AI has more benefits compared to the threats and stands as a solution other than a threat.

Works Cited

EKU. "Using Artificial Intelligence for Emergency Management | EKU Online."  Safetymanagement.eku.edu . N.p., 2017. Web. 4 Sept. 2017.

Imran, Muhammad et al. "AIDR."  Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on World Wide Web - WWW '14 Companion  (2014): 159-162. Web. 4 Sept. 2017.

Kaplan, Jerry.  Artificial Intelligence: What Everyone Needs To Know ? New York, NY, United States of America: Oxford University Press, 2016. Print.

Moein, Sara.  Medical Diagnosis Using Artificial Neural Networks . Hershey, PA: Medical Information Science Reference, 2014. Print.

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When writing a research paper with works cited page or an essay for that matter, it is always MLA formatting. If it is an essay that requires you to have endnotes and footnotes then you should write it in Chicago style. Most of the argumentative essays we have helped students write are always in APA or MLA.

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How to Write an Essay on Artificial Intelligence Thoughtfully and Objectively

ChatGPT, which arrived on the scene at the tail end of the last year, was heralded as a revolution. However, it is just a new level of AI technology that has existed for some years and will continue to evolve and shape how we learn, communicate, and consume information. Its arrival, however, gave public discourse a much-needed push.

The popularity of AI discussion has been growing in pop culture along with the development of computer technology. Some of the most persistent fears and ethical questions were explored through media and films like "Terminator," "Ghost in the Shell," "Matrix," "AI," "I, Robot," and many others. It peaked at the turn of the Millennium, characterized by cyberpunk mainstream, but then gradually weaned off. The wide availability of personal computers (and later smartphones) probably demystified technology and calmed public anxiety about AI.

However, today we find ourselves on the next whorl of the spiral. We came full circle and ascended to a new level. It's high time we discussed AI and the challenges that the latest state of this technology presents us with. Since every self-respecting media has already published an essay on artificial intelligence from its leading columnist, you won't be starved for inspiration and ideas for your own piece. However, you must make your original argument when tasked with an essay on AI as an assignment.

In this post, we will give you advice on writing an argumentative essay to express your position, whether you tend to see the good or the bad of AI technology.

How to Write a Positive Argumentative Essay on Artificial Intelligence

Writing positively about anything new usually means going against the trend. When a technology, especially as significant and powerful as AI, arrives on the scene, the majority of people tend to err on the side of caution and see possible dangers as if through a magnifying glass. At the same time, potential benefits are often dismissed because the status quo is often perceived as the norm, something "good enough" that's being threatened by change.

For example, people took the idea of text-generating capabilities of AI and ran away with it, claiming that students will now have tireless free essay writers online in ChatGPT and the ilk, so they will no longer learn how to write themselves. This attitude takes a small fraction of students that see writing as a chore and use technology to cheat. It completely dismisses students who find writing a fulfilling way of self-expression and, overall, a rewarding activity. It also ignores the fact that even before AI tools, there were always plenty of cheap custom papers online for those willing to cheat this way. Even before that, there were always obliging classmates embarrassed for cash or helping a friend out of the goodness of their hearts.

Moreover, teachers and parents concerned with how students use AI tools underestimate human curiosity about novelty. AI is a new shiny toy – of course, young people will try to do everything they can with it.

Anyway, it's good to remember that everything new is met with enthusiasm by younger people and wariness and suspicion by older ones. To highlight this, you can mention in your essay that even writing itself was criticized by Socrates, who thought it would weaken human memory and corrupt knowledge. The wide availability of printed books was considered a threat to public morals. TV was supposed to dumb people down and damage their eyesight. Mobile phones were rumored to cause brain tumors (believe me, I've already been alive when this was still discussed seriously).

Contrasting these past moral panics with current situations will help you make a case in favor of artificial intelligence.

One more important argument to make is, of course, how AI can benefit everyone. People who fear or criticize it often aren't aware of how deeply AI is already woven into the fabric of our daily life. Spam email filtration, face ID, image recognition, content recommendations, Google search, voice assistance like Siri and Alexa, route mapping and traffic updates, location-specific weather forecast, improved online banking safety – all this and more is made possible thanks to AI.

Another prevalent fear is based on projected mass redundancies. People are afraid that AI will cause unemployment to soar since it will replace so many jobs previously performed by humans. Again, this is nothing new. History knows hundreds upon hundreds of occupations made obsolete by technology, yet people still manage to work themselves to death. For every position technology replaces, it creates one or two new job titles. AI needs training and maintenance, so people definitely won't be out of work any time soon. True, some redundancies will happen, but people will be able to retrain and find new, more fulfilling jobs.

You can use these arguments with some fresh examples relevant to your field as a basis for your essay in defense of AI. Make sure to stay objective and address your opponents thoughtfully and respectfully instead of mocking them for their reservations. In an affirmative and positive way, you will persuade more people.

How to Write an Essay on Disadvantages of Artificial Intelligence

Now, let's suppose you are wary of artificial intelligence and its impact on society and want your essay to be critical. This doesn't mean it has to be all doom and gloom essay on Artificial Intelligence: A Threat to Mankind TM. Instead, you should point out some harmful implications that must be addressed as soon as possible if we don't want to live out one of the dystopian scenarios.

You want to be critical but don't want to sound like a Luddite because you don't want to be dismissed easily. Your goal is to win people over on your side and open their eyes to some genuine dangers. Why it's important? Let me tell you a story.

If you are a traditional college student, you are too young to remember the panic around the "Year 2000 problem." In the years leading up to the Millennium, people became wary of the possible glitches and computer errors related to formatting and storage of data that used only two digits to represent the year. For example, they used 87 instead of 1987 because the first part of the date seemed redundant for most of the 20 th century. As things stood, potential confusion could arise after the year 2000. The glitches included babies born on January 1, 2000, being recorded as 100 years old, the bank systems failing to calculate payroll, prisons setting release dates for inmates in the last century, computers ceasing processing information, etc. All real cases, by the way.

Contrary to public apprehension, few significant errors occurred, and the world wasn't plunged into chaos. The apocalypse didn't happen. The Y2K scare became the butt of many jokes. However, the very reason for this relatively smooth transition was that people started thinking about the potential threats and coming up with solutions to mitigate the risks. The Y2K problem was timely fixed, yet it doesn't mean there never was any danger.

AI presents a similar challenge. It is a powerful technology that opens up many unexplored possibilities. It is our duty to explore all of the possible scenarios, even the grim ones. We must speculate about the eventual dangers to make sure they never come to fruition.

One of such dangers is AI's "creativity," aka the ability to generate new combinations of data and words based on things it has already learned. What was conceived as a beneficial and flexible feature in theory, in reality, can lead to fakes, lies, and spikes in conspiracy theories. For example, ChatGPT can generate believable quotes people never said, it can invent fictional studies, and create authoritatively sounding personalities that never existed. It often returns all this fiction to answer queries that ask for facts.

With things as they stand, a person receiving convincingly sounding fiction instead of facts has no way of knowing which is which unless they do due diligence and fact-check thoroughly. If I am any judge of human nature, few will do that.

This can lead to horrible consequences. QAnon, Reptilian conspiracy theory, Holocaust deniers, war crimes apologists – all this exists and multiplies in the echo chambers created by content recommendation algorithms. Imagine AI's impact on existing problems and the new ones it can start by confirming lies and fabricating evidence? Conspiracy theories don't exist just online. They spill out on the streets and cost lives.

We must address the core issues baked into AI and build mechanisms preventing the harmful effects it might cause.

Another thing to consider is people engaging with AI with criminal intent. Developers must come up with safety mechanisms that will prevent AI from being weaponized. AI can be used to intentionally deceive and mislead people by faking news, evidence, speeches, and even personalities. This is a threat both on a personal scale (for example, AI being used for catfishing) and at the national level (people rallying around a false and dangerous idea).

When you look at these negative possibilities, try to remain grounded and fall back on the facts. For example, cite cases when AI actually faked evidence and misattributed quotes. You need to show your readers that your concerns are valid and must be addressed as soon as possible.

How to Brainstorm Essay Topics on Artificial Intelligence

You can, of course, go to an AI of your choice and ask it to suggest some interesting topics for you. However, AI's offerings will most likely be based on what an average user finds interesting. If you want to brainstorm a unique topic, you should look closer to home. Ask yourself these questions:

• What problems will AI help solve in your field of study?
• How will AI change your life as a student?
• Which perspectives will AI open in your future career?
• What are some possible challenges AI might present for you as a professional?
• How can creators of AI future-proof the technology against potential abuse by criminals and other bad actors?
• What are some anxieties and fears you personally have about AI-powered technology? Where do these fears stem?

This will help you find the topic connected with realities you know well. Moreover, you will be intellectually and emotionally invested in this discussion because you will have stakes in the matter.

Here are some sample suggestions that you can take as they are or put your unique spin on them to communicate your personal perspective:

• The Ethical Implications of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
• The Impact of AI on the Future of Work and Employment
• The Benefits and Risks of AI for Healthcare and Medicine
• The Emergence of Autonomous Vehicles and their Effects on Society
• AI and Cybersecurity: How Machine Learning is Changing the Game
• The Role of AI in Transforming Education and Learning
• AI and Data Privacy: Balancing Innovation with Protection
• Predictive Analytics and Big Data: How AI is Changing Business Decision-making
• AI and Climate Change: Creating Sustainable Solutions for the Future
• The Future of Humanity and AI: Opportunities and Challenges Ahead

Whichever argument you want to make in your essay about AI, don't forget to back up your claims with evidence, fact-check information you find online, stay objective, and be respectful to your opponents. Good luck and happy writing!

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Jana Rooheart came to WOWESSAYS™ with a mission to put together and then slice and dice our vast practical experience in crafting all kinds of academic papers. Jana is an aspired blogger with rich expertise in psychology, digital learning tools, and creative writing. In this blog, she willingly shares tricks of pencraft and mind-altering ideas about academic writing any student will find utterly beneficial.

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Ethics , Technology

Argumentative Essay on Artificial Intelligence

Actors portraying cybermen, enemies of Dr. Who in the BBC television show, appear in London.

Written by: Scott Johnson

The rapid evolution of technology has raised concerns among psychologists, scholars, and scientists on the probability of the evolving technology surpassing and finally rivaling human intelligence. The contention on the dangers and prospects of artificial intelligence has mainly focused on the singularity. The term denotes a point in time when rapid advances in technology may make futuristic computers so powerful that they may cause cataclysmic alterations to humanity, notably the universe (Broderck, 12).

Even as technology and humanity remain uncertain, there is optimism that human opinions, decisions, and actions will always influence the direction that the evolution of technology assumes. However, a closer look at the rapid rate of technological growth reveals that human intelligence may not remain superior and capable of controlling the continuum of the advances in technology and its associated outcomes (Bostrom 4). If not approached carefully, the curiosity on futuristic technologies will leave human beings playing second fiddle to machine intelligence, which will subsequently herald the end of humanity, particularly when such machines start developing their values rather than safeguarding humanity and preserving human values.

It is worth noting that each individual, whether a scholar, a technology enthusiast, or a scientist, will often have an independent idea on what to expect from the current advancements in artificial intelligence. There are speculations that the Internet of Things (IoT) will soon lead to the realization of artificial superintelligence, with technological powered machines influencing all aspects of human life (Moravec, 25-26). The opinions on how such kind of intelligence will surpass the extremes of human comprehension vary depending on who is asking and answers the question.

On the one hand, technological enthusiasts aim at exploring the highest realms of technological evolution, and the rise of artificial superintelligence will not come as a surprise. But to psychologists and some scientists, human capacity and potential remains incomprehensible and not yet stretched to anywhere near its full extreme. However, human beings may not be able to maintain an upper hand over any forms of technological singularity, or whatever terms technology observers may decide to use (Broderick, 18-23).

One thing in common among the different groups of experts is that they all call for attention, forecasting, and speculation on the future of technology, thereby expanding the room for debates and controversies on balance between human and artificial intelligence.

With the current development of the Internet of Things, the ground seems all set for human beings to showcase their capacity to manipulate technology in enhancing their way of life, while remaining ignorant of the dangers of uncontrolled development of technology (Broderick 12). Thus, even as machines at homes, in the workplaces, factories, and elsewhere start communicating among themselves, human beings will still keep an eye on the communications, keenly controlling the buttons on what the machines can or cannot do.

So far, no significant incidence of technology surpassing human intelligence is in any credible report. However, human beings are already recreating what it would like when machines start taking over human potential.

It is necessary to assume a scenario where artificial intelligence becomes the order of the day to understand the present issue in greater depth. For instance, one can expect a case where technology-mediated knowledge embodies a superset of human cognitive ability (Carvalko, 12). It would be ignorant to assume that such kind of intelligence, which will be aware and able to manipulate personal information, will pose no dangers to humanity’s survival of humanity.

One question that comes into mind is; is human intelligence in tandem with developments in artificial intelligence? If the answer to this question is affirmative, then there is no need to worry about the rapid evolution of technological capacities. However, if the answer is negative, then human beings need to control how much of their size and the potential they are transferring to technology-mediated machines, particularly in the critical domains of their survival, such as healthcare and security.

Although the rapid improvement in technology’s aim is to make life easier and human input even more productive, such as in the industries, the fear of artificial intelligence eventually perceiving human beings as something that needs extermination cannot be downplayed; this is mainly the case when one considers the scalable competence attribute of artificial intelligence. This characteristic renders artificial intelligence capable of executing a massive number of tasks more rapidly, including functions that humans can only accomplish with enough resources and time.

Those that humans cannot achieve due to their organizational and cognitive limitations. Some are concern that technology may reach a point when a breakdown in coding or mishaps in software development will give rise to machines that are hostile to human beings. In this regard, some technology observers have anticipated a point when some everyday household gadgets will do the opposite of what human beings command them to do (Bonner, n.p).

With prospects of devices connected through the Internet of Things expected to hit over 26 billion by the year 2020, one can only imagine what miscommunication among such a vast collection of gadgets can do to human life.

It is also worth noting that computer processor speed has been doubling every 18 months, and there is doubt on whether human intelligence is evolving at the same rate.

Human intelligence is indeed under constant evolution, and this is the primary reason why human beings have managed to develop technologies with capabilities that could only be imagined just a few years or decades ago (Baudier, n.p). Thus, even as one forms the picture of a universe dominated by artificial intelligence, it is equally important to think about the potential of human knowledge in several decades (Prescott, 439). The only way artificial intelligence may surpass and perhaps dominate human intelligence is when human beings allow technology to dictate almost all aspects of their lives; this is likely to diminish the potential for human intelligence to evolve in unison with developments in technology.

So far, technological advancements have defragmented human society into mass culture. Furthermore, the proliferation of mass media is likely to debase human civilization, thereby giving machine evolution an upper hand on human intelligence. The fact that people are already thinking about and recreating a future scenario where technology commands and punishes human beings points to diminishing hope in the human race (Pinker, n.p).

Rather than dwelling on this fear and devising ways to counter the imminent threats, people seem obsessed with stretching their infinite potential to evolve and cope with all sorts of diversity.

Human beings are the custodians of all forms of technology used today, whether at home, in industries, education, medicine, and all realms of society. However, the uncontrolled development of technology will soon become counterproductive when the same technology gets out of hand and threaten the very existence of the human race. A form of technology that is powerful and flexible is likely to pose a myriad of social consequences, just like electricity.

However, unlike power, artificial intelligence systems are likely to have a wider variety of functionalities, thereby posing even more significant challenges. Secondly, the diverse nature of artificial intelligence means a myriad of its possible malicious uses (Brundage 5-6). Thus, if artificial intelligence may not turn against humanity by itself, the likelihood of human beings misusing AI either intentionally or unintentionally, such as algorithmic bias, will precipitate the dawn of a post-human era.

 Counterargument

For many who oppose the likelihood of artificial intelligence threatening human existence, fears of a point of singularity remain farfetched, as long as stringent rules are in place to control the further development of technological capacities. The only dangers posed by modern technologies, such as the Internet of Things, come indirectly from the same people who developed it. For instance, cyber-crime has become a global concern as people manipulate technologies to harm other people.

Thus, it is clear that with evolution in technology goes the advancement in the human capacity to use the same techniques in the creation of social and economic disruptions (Barrat n.p). Technology, no matter how advanced it becomes, will never pose a direct, imminent, and uncontrollable threat to the human race. When people start pursuing technological improvement to better their lives and make the world a better place, the danger of singularity will dissolve for good.

The second counterargument is that human beings are always flexible when it comes to adopting new technologies; this means that any advances in computer technology are caused by an even more significant advancement in the human ability to employ technology in making life easier (Garreau, 154). Through such a trend, it becomes almost impossible to reach a point where artificial intelligence can function independently from preconceived human design.

The implication here is that even as technology advances along an exponential curve, human beings will become more innovative and creative to shape the impact of technology on human affairs. Furthermore, the fact that people can use previous technological evolution trends to create futuristic technologies demonstrates their preparedness to handle advanced artificial intelligence (Carvalko, 23-27). For instance, some past predictions on technological evolution, such as jet-pack computing, are yet to become a reality though they crossed human imagination several years ago.

These observations lead Jaron Janier to comment on Who Owns the Future. That technology may never have the capacity to create or recreate itself autonomously without human intervention or control (Janier, 7-10). The assertion here is that even as artificial intelligence gives rise to robots, the idea that they will wish to dominate the world is mere science fiction with no basis in reality.

The counterarguments on the possibility of artificial intelligence threatening human life build on the premise that human beings have always remained firmly in control of emerging technologies. Although reaching a point of singularity may not happen anytime soon, it is unarguable that other potential hazards and pitfalls are imminent (Haqq-Misra 269); this is when one considers the development of military robots, which have become increasingly complex to the point of making independent decisions.

Furthermore, if people were firmly in control of technological evolution as some belief, then there would be no fears of a point in singularity where machines eventually take control of human life. These fears only demonstrate how people are increasingly becoming wary of artificial intelligence being able to function autonomously without human input (Kurtzweil, 56-62). When one thinks of futuristic scenarios such as electronic personality and intelligent autonomous robots, it becomes clear that robots dominating human life are no longer fictitious, but a possibility that is getting real.

Ignoring the chance of reaching a point of singularity in artificial intelligence is similar to ignoring the threat of climate change even as its disastrous consequences become real every day.

 Conclusion

The rapid evolution of technology continues to raise fears of a point when artificial intelligence heralds cataclysmic alterations to human life. Even though the technology aims to make the experience more accessible through the global interconnection of people and societies, human beings’ failure to match their intelligence to the emerging artificial superintelligence will make machines superior to the human race. There is a significant divergence in the current opinions on how artificial intelligence will influence human life in the future.

However, these perceptions appear to have a familiar premise; the fear of artificial intelligence causing the extermination of human life as it is known today. There is little doubt that technology has set the human race on the path to a more automated future where human beings will not be the only sophisticated intelligence. If not carefully approached, it will be a future riddled with fears and damages, as the threat of artificial superintelligence triggering a post-human future becomes more real.

Rather than downplaying the imminent danger that artificial intelligence will pose to human existence in the foreseeable future, it is time for people to ponder their ability to handle runaway or self-developing artificial superintelligence. They might as well decide to live with the fear of the inevitable unknown; the extermination of human life by artificial intelligence. Whether artificial intelligence will pose an existential threat to people or make them more creative and productive depends mostly on how ethically people approach the current developments in technology.

Works Cited

Baldauf, Kenneth & Stair, Ralph. Succeeding with Technology. New York: Cengage Learning, 2010.

Barrat, James. “Why Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates are terrified of artificial intelligence.” Huffington Post (2015).

Baudier, Amanda, “Artificial Intelligence vs. Authentic Intelligence,”  https://becominghuman.ai/artificial-intelligence-vs-authentic-intelligence-ab1bcd34e8f2 .

Bostrom, Nick. Superintelligence: Paths, dangers, strategies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Bostrom, Nick. Ethical Issues in Advanced Artificial Intelligence. Cognitive, Emotive, and Ethical Aspects of Decision Making in Humans and Artificial Intelligence 2: 12–17.

Bonner, Stephen. Hacked by your fridge? When the Internet of Things bites back. Retrieved from 23 February 2020.

Broderick, Damien. The Spike: How Our Lives Are Being Transformed By Rapidly Advancing Technologies, New York: Forge, 2012.

Brundage, Miles. “Economic possibilities for our children: Artificial intelligence and the future of work, education, and leisure.” Workshops at the Twenty-Ninth AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence. 2015.

Carvalko, Joseph. The Techno-human Shell-A Jump in the Evolutionary Gap. Sunbury Press., 2012.

Haqq-Misra, Jacob. “Here be dragons: science, technology, and the future of humanity.” (2016): 268-270.

Kurzweil, Ray. The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. New York: Viking Press, 2005.

Moravec, Hans. Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Pinker, Steven, “AI Won’t Takeover The World, and What Our Fears of the Robopocalypse Reveal,”  bigthink.com , 12 August 2019,  https://bigthink.com/videos/steven-pinker-on-artificial-intelligence-apocalypse/ .

Prescott, Tony. The AI singularity and runaway human intelligence.” Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2013.

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• NATURE PODCAST
• 17 March 2021

The AI that argues back

• Nick Petrić Howe &
• Shamini Bundell

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Listen to the latest science news, with Nick Petrić Howe and Shamini Bundell.

In this episode:

00:43 AI Debater

After thousands of years of human practise, it’s still not clear what makes a good argument. Despite this, researchers have been developing computer programs that can find and process arguments. And this week, researchers at IBM are publishing details of an artificial intelligence that is capable of debating with humans.

Research Article: Slonim et al.

News and Views: Argument technology for debating with humans

10:30 Research Highlights

The sea slugs that can regrow their whole body from their severed head, and evidence of high status women in ancient Europe.

Research Highlight: Now that’s using your head: a sea slug’s severed noggin sprouts a new body

Research Highlight: A breathtaking treasure reveals the power of the woman buried with it

12:56 Briefing Chat

We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing . This time, the next generation of gravitational wave detectors, and why 2020 was a record-breaking year for near-Earth asteroids.

Nature News: Record number of asteroids seen whizzing past Earth in 2020

Science: Giant gravitational wave detectors could hear murmurs from across universe

Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.

Never miss an episode: Subscribe to the Nature Podcast on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Spotify or your favourite podcast app. Head here for the Nature Podcast RSS feed.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-00720-w

Host: Nick Petrić Howe

Welcome back to the Nature Podcast . On this week’s show, the computer that can debate humans. I’m Nick Petrić Howe.

Host: Shamini Bundell

And I’m Shamini Bundell.

First up on the show, it’s time for a bit of a debate.

Interviewer: Nick Petrić Howe

In 2019, a historic debate occurred.

Project Debater

Greetings Harish. I have heard you hold the world record in debate competition wins against humans, but I suspect you’ve never debated a machine. Welcome to the future.

That right there is the voice of an artificial intelligence called Project Debater, who came up with the statement and the whole debate herself. In fact, she has successfully debated humans live several times. On the podcast, we’ve talked about a few different AIs – ones that can play board games, some that can play video games, and AIs like Watson who competed on Jeopardy . But for the principal investigator of Project Debater from IBM, Noam Slonim, these challenges aren’t tough enough.

Interviewee: Noam Slonim

Although it is clear that all these grand challenges were extremely instrumental to the development of artificial intelligence, these board games still lie in what we refer to as the ‘comfort zone’ of artificial intelligence.

Things like board games and video games have a clear ‘win’ state that an AI can try hundreds of techniques to achieve. Not so in the case of debate. Here, winners are tricky to identify, but now IBM have developed such a system by honing a few different AI technologies, such as argument mining and understanding of human language, and getting each of these different AI components to work together all whilst squaring off against an opponent. Project Debater, who looks a little bit like the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey , has been able to face off against top-tier human debaters in front of a live audience, such as the debate I played earlier which took place in California against Harish Natarajan, a world-class debater. Despite this challenging environment, Project Debater has done pretty well for herself.

In the three public debates that we had, we lost one, and we were able to win another one and it was nearly a tie in the third one, and in addition I think it was interesting to note that in all the debates that we had we also asked the audience another question: which side better enriched your knowledge during the debate? And in all of the debates, Project Debater obtained clearly better scores than the human opponent on this question, which was perhaps expected but still nice to see.

This week in Nature , Noam and his team are publishing a comprehensive rundown of the technology involved in Project Debater. But before we get into how the system works, it’s worth quickly running through how the debates it participated in were laid out. To start, there’s a motion – what are we arguing about here? For example, should pre-schools be subsidised? Next, there’s opening remarks – four minutes of argumentation about why your side is right. Then after hearing what the opponent has to say, there’s four minutes of rebuttal. And finally, two minutes of closing remarks. So, at the start, Project Debater is given a position to argue for and then has 15 minutes to prepare the opening remarks.

For decades, research has demonstrated that high-quality preschool is one of the best investments of public dollars, resulting in children who fare better on tests and have more successful lives than those without the same access.

So, here are some of the remarks that Project Debater is coming up with. But how is she doing it? Well, she draws on a wealth of human argumentation.

First of all, it has a large collection of around 400 million user articles from LexisNexis, nearly 10 billion sentences. And when the debate starts, the system is using various AI components to detect short pieces of text that should satisfy three criteria. They should be relevant to the topic. They should be argumentative in nature – that is they should argue something about the topic, not just be relevant. And finally, they should support our side of the debate. Then after finding these short pieces of text, the system is using the other AI components, like text clustering and et cetera, in order to glue these short pieces together into a meaningful narrative.

Now, finding these bits of text is a huge challenge. Identifying the bits that meet those criteria are part of what Noam’s team have been working on since the project started in 2012. Project Debater largely achieves this through having lots of data and ranking how relevant those bits of sentences are. She then groups these sentences into topics using Wikipedia to help. After all that, Project Debater has to assemble those sentences into a coherent argument. Again, not an easy task. It’s hard to say exactly what it is that makes a debate compelling. And then there’s rebuttal.

For starters, I sometimes listen to opponents and wonder: what do they want? Would they prefer poor people on their doorsteps begging for money?

You need somehow to respond to the arguments of the opposition, and this starts by really understanding the words articulated by the human debater, and for that purpose, we used Watson’s speech recognition capabilities out of the box, but of course you need to go beyond the box. You need somehow to understand the gist of the human speech and the main claims being raised, and to that end we developed several techniques that typically rely on the same principle of trying to anticipate in advance what kinds of arguments the opposition might use and then listen to determine whether indeed the opposition was making these claims and then respond accordingly.

Altogether, as Noam mentioned, Project Debater was pretty good at debating. Compared with other AIs, Project Debater was ranked more highly by audiences and close to that of a human expert, but not without some limitations. Sometimes, she found it difficult to make an argument flow like a real human does and, not too surprisingly, she kind of argued like machine, with lots of facts and figures and not as much emotion as a human debater. But whether or not Project Debater is better or worse than a human, it’s a big step for the field. Finding arguments in human written text – so-called argument mining – and language generation, well, these are tricky tasks for an AI, as AI researcher Elena Cabrio explains.

Interviewee: Elena Cabrio

Even for humans, for which debating is among the primary cognitive activities, I mean, with every day, so even when we debate, we need to apply a wide range of language understanding and language generation capabilities. So, for a machine, being able actually to address all these tasks at the same time in an automated way is actually a big improvement in the field.

For Elena, who was not involved in this project, the ability of AIs to search through vast amounts of text and fine-caught arguments could help with an ever-growing problem in the modern world – information overload.

The growing of the web, the increasing number of texts and data that are published every day, have actually highlighted a need to process such data in an automated way, to be able to identify, structure and summarise this huge amount information. People like us are more and more exposed to information – online newspapers, blogs, online debate platforms, social networks – so argument mining has actually the potential to help us with that because it provides the techniques to sift through this ever increasing amount of data and provide us with the relevant evidence items that we can find in them.

Noam feels similarly, and sees Project Debater as more of a collaborator with humans, potentially helping them find arguments to assist their own debates or speeches. For both Elena and Noam, the next steps for this kind of research are to try and improve these AIs abilities to understand language as humans use it. What makes a good argument? What is convincing? Why is this compelling? But for now, Project Debater has given an insight into what this sort of technology could look like.

Thanks for this final opportunity to speak out in this debate and thanks, Harish Natarajan. One might say that this conversation can serve no purpose anymore, but I feel differently.

When you saw Project Debater up there debating with people, what did that feel like?

I was proud.

That was Noam Slonim from IBM Research. You also heard from Elena Cabrio from Université Côte d’Azur in France. If you feel the matter is still up for debate then you can find a link to Noam’s paper in the show notes.

Right now, though, Dan Fox is here with this week’s Research Highlights.

When it comes to regenerative powers, I’m going to stick my neck out and say that sea slugs might have a head start over other animals because some are able to grow a whole new body from just their severed head. Researchers observed that two species of the sacoglossan sea slug sometimes severed their entire bodies from the neck down. Their heads then continued to move around and eat algae. A slug’s head regenerated a heart within a week and the entire body within three weeks. Slugs more than a year old did not have this ability. They simply died when their heads were severed. The disembodied heads can’t digest the algae they consume, and the researchers hypothesise that the heads rely on chloroplasts in the algae, structures that use photosynthesis to make energy that can power the slug until its digestive system regenerates. It’s still unclear why the slugs shed their entire bodies, but the team thinks it might be a way to rid themselves of parasites. Get your heard around that research at Current Biology .

Archaeologists have uncovered jewellery that suggests some ancient European civilisations may have held certain women in high esteem. A silver diadem, amongst other ancient jewellery, discovered in a tomb in ancient Spain suggests that the woman buried there some 3,700 years ago was very high-status, perhaps even a young queen. The tomb sits below a sprawling compound that researchers identify as a palace, the oldest known from western Europe’s Early Bronze Age. The woman was buried beside a male partner, but the researcher link most of the 29 objects interred at the site to her. The items include silver headdress ornaments and earlobe plugs, along with objects that signified social status, such as pots with intricate silver plating and daggers with silver-plated handles. Dig up the rest of that research at Antiquity .

Finally on the show, it’s time for the weekly Briefing chat, where we discuss a couple of articles that have been highlighted in the Nature Briefing . Shamini, what’s caught your eye this week?

This week, gravitational waves have caught my eye. Not literally, but it is about how people are detecting them and how we hope to detect even more in the future.

Okay, but yeah, I remember vaguely that gravitational waves were detected a few years ago but remind me, how exactly do you go about detecting them and how might these new detectors fit in to this?

Right, yeah, so you probably remember the name LIGO, so that’s this gravitational wave detector in the US that published some of the first big results. There’s also VIRGO in Italy, KAGRA in Japan, and they’re all basically these big L-shaped structures, and the idea is that gravitational waves, which come from these huge events like black hole mergers or neutron star mergers, they cause the fabric of spacetime to stretch. And what that means for your sort of L-shaped gravitational wave detector is that the whole structure literally stretches, and the aim of the two arms is to compare the two and see if one of them stretches more than the other based on how fast light takes to go down it. Now, when I say stretch, we are talking tiny, tiny amounts, so less than the width of a proton.

Right, so it has to be an incredibly sensitive device then to detect these tiny, I guess, ripples in spacetime, so what will these new proposals, what will these new systems do to become even more sensitive?

So, there are two proposed plans here for the sort of next generation of gravitational wave detectors, and two slightly different methods that are being used, so one from the US and one from researchers in Europe. So, the main aim here is we have been able to detect gravitational waves from massive events, so two black holes whirling in to each other, for example, or neutron stars spiralling together in a killer nova, but the hope is that we could build a detector that could detect much more sensitive readings and just way more of them. And, well, my favourite quote in this article is the explanation from someone on the US team about how they’re going to go about doing this and the quote is, ‘We’re just going to make it really, really big,’ which is perfect. And it makes sense because these detectors are already huge – the one in the US, LIGO, has two arms in this L shape and each arm is 4 kilometres long – and the plan is let’s make one with arms 40 kilometres long. Actually, the sort of most amusing problem that they mentioned they might have with building a gravitational wave detector with 40-kilometre-long arms is that the arms have to be perfectly straight because it’s all about light sort of bouncing up and down, but the Earth curves, so they might have to raise the ends up way high into the air in order to get it flat.

So, bigger is better in one way – it seems like a typically US solution to things – but what was the method proposed by the European scientists?

I was trying to avoid saying that. I didn’t want to offend our US listeners but, yes, it does seem to fit the stereotype. The European physicists – I’m not sure whether there’s a stereotype about this – but they’re going underground, building a subterranean gravitational wave observatory called the Einstein Telescope, or at least that’s the plan. Both of these projects haven’t quite got off the ground yet, but that’s the hope, and this would be only 10 kilometres long but being underground would help to shield out vibrations, and they’re using various other things to try and maximise their ability to detect in particular very low-frequency gravitational waves.

Oh, well, hopefully in the future then we’ll get even more gravitational wave detections. And, well, keeping in a sort of space theme, the story I was looking at this week is about how 2020 was a record-breaking year for the number of asteroids near Earth.

Woah, this sounds worrying. Are you saying that there’s a sudden and inexplicable increase in the number of asteroids hitting us because this is definitely the beginning of some sort of disaster film.

Just when you thought 2020 couldn’t get any worse. But no, that’s not actually what it is. It’s more actually that we’re getting a lot better at detecting asteroids. So, 2020 was a record-breaking year but so was several other years beforehand because, since 1998 when NASA really started looking for asteroids that are coming near Earth in earnest, the detections of asteroids have got a lot more sensitive and a lot more accurate, and now we’re detecting many thousands every year, and 2020 – despite the pandemic shutting down operations – was a year in which we saw 3,000 of these near-Earth asteroids floating around near to Earth.

So, we’re not talking about meteors which actually hit our atmosphere and burn up, we’re talking about huge chunks of rock within the sort of area of Earth. How alarmed should I be? How near are we talking? How big are we talking? Does the fact that there’s loads more asteroids than we thought mean we’re actually in way more danger of an actually harmful collision event than we thought?

No, I don’t think it’s particularly unexpected like how many asteroids there were and, if anything, we should be a bit relieved because the better we get at doing this and the more accurate our trajectories for where these asteroids are going to go are, the more chance we actually have of doing something. You might remember back in the 90s there were a few films about asteroid impacts and like Bruce Willis was flown to an asteroid and blew it up with a nuclear bomb and stuff like that. That is maybe now slightly more realistic because we have a better chance of actually knowing where these things are going. In terms of how close they’re getting, there were some that got really quite close but because space is vast, still safely far away. So, there was one called VT4, which was less than 400 kilometres from the planet and was almost just skimming the atmosphere but not quite, and there were a few others that were only a few thousand kilometres away, but fortunately all these things were actually quite small. It’s the things that are larger than 150-metre, these sort of objects, that we need to worry about because that could do potentially quite a lot of damage.

And I presume we find these asteroids by pointing telescopes at them and sort of looking for them. Is there any benefit to being able to map all these asteroids other than just if something is going to kill us we’ll know?

Well, the article I was reading in Nature , that’s mainly what is focused on, was that we would know where things are and what’s going on, but the better our sort of detection of them is gives all sorts of interesting insights for astronomers, and I’m sure they can get a lot of information from it. But I think it’s mostly we want to know if something is going to get close to us or potentially hit us. And the way it works is it’s mostly just automated telescopes scanning the sky and then when they see something moving, they compare it with a list of known objects and then if it’s something new or something unknown then they flag it to researchers who are like, ‘Oh, hang on, we need to pay attention to this, especially if its large or particularly close.’ Once they start paying attention to it, they can sort of finetune measurements and with more observations they can work out the exact trajectory, and we’re just getting better at that and we’ve got more systems in place, more telescopes doing this, and better computer programmes that can compare these objects together.

Well, I suppose that’s good news then and hopefully Bruce Willis is on standby somewhere.

I’m sure he’s awaiting the call. But I think that’s more or less all we’ve got time for on the Briefing chat this week. Thank you so much for talking to me, Shamini. And listeners, if you’re interested in more stories like this but instead as an email then make sure you check out the Nature Briefing. We’ll pop a link of where to sign up in the show notes.

That’s nearly all for this week, but we do have a special treat for you at the very end of the show today. We mentioned recently that various Mars missions are currently gathering data. One of those is NASA’s Perseverance rover, and Perseverance has sent back audio recordings from the surface of Mars, so we will be playing those for you at the end of the show. Have a listen out for the winds of Mars and also the sound of the rover blowing up little bits of rock with a laser. In the meantime, as always, if you want to reach out we’re on Twitter – we’re @NaturePodcast. Or if you prefer email we’re [email protected] . I’m Shamini Bundell.

And I’m Nick Petrić Howe. Thanks for listening and here’s some sounds from Mars.

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The Ultimate Guide to AI Essay Writing

Table of contents

Laura Jane Bradbury

There are several aspects of essay writing that many students can struggle with. In particular, seven common problems make it more stressful than it needs to be. From staying within the word limit, to formulating a thesis statement and creating an engaging hook.

As a writer, I'm used to working with article briefs similar to student assignments. We both must follow word counts, avoid plagiarism in our research, and create powerful introductions that grab our readers' attention.

Here are six tips to help make the essay writing process easier.

Write better essays with AI > Write better essays with AI >

1. Create a stronger thesis statement using AI

A thesis statement helps you stay on-track with your essay’s overall aim. It’s a brief statement that summarizes what your essay is about and what readers can expect. For example, are you exploring different ideas, making an argument, explaining something in detail? 

Follow these steps to write a strong thesis statement: 

• Identify and research your essay topic — find a particular angle that interests you.
• Ask a research question that encourages you to explore your topic in more detail. 
• Use your initial thoughts or theories to answer your question. This will be your working thesis. 
• Research your question and working thesis. Look through trustworthy sources to evaluate your thesis’ strengths and weaknesses.
• Refine your thesis. Your research may have altered your opinion or created a new angle.

Wordtune’s AI capabilities can refine your statement through eliminating unnecessary words.

Read the full article: How to Write a Better Thesis Statement Using AI 

2. apply “smart hacks” to boost your word count.

In addition to being too long, essays can also be too short. I know how frustrating it is when you have explained everything you wanted to, but are still 200 words under the word count.

Before you add filler words or rewrite the same content in different sections of your essay, apply these smart hacks to your copy:

• Add examples: Examples can illustrate a point and make it easier to understand. They’re particularly useful for explaining complex academic and technical information.
• Use quotes and references: Find valuable quotes and references that can support your essay’s argument.
• Extend your introduction and conclusion: This is where you can add free flowing paragraphs without needing to validate sentences with references, sources, and quotes. Consider adding detail on what inspired you to explore your topic, or reiterate the key takeaway from your essay. You can also share personal experiences and research findings to introduce or close your topic where appropriate.
• Use an AI writing tool: AI tools such as Wordtune can generate text. While reading through your essay, you may find that some paragraphs or points could be expanded. Paste your words into Wordtune Editor, and click “Continue Writing” under “Spices'' for ideas on additional text you can include.

Read the full article: 10 Ways to Increase Your Essay Word Count (AI Included)

3. hook your readers in your opening sentence.

The pressure to deliver a unique and attention-grabbing hook can make your opening sentence the hardest to craft.

Before brainstorming, ensure you have performed in-depth research and that you understand your essay’s tone and audience. 

Your research may uncover facts and arguments that can guide your hook, such as a shocking statistic or discovery. In addition, your intended audience will impact the tone you should use and how you should introduce readers to your essay. For instance, sharing a joke or a light-hearted anecdote will likely be too casual for a serious argumentative essay.

Some of the most-effective ways to create an enticing hook include:

• Shocking statistics : These are facts that will surprise your readers.
• Bold claim : This is a claim that your readers don’t necessarily already accept as fact, or that they may not even have heard of. 
• Storytelling/anecdote: Stories can help your readers connect with your topic and you as the author.
• Questions: Asking a question can spark curiosity. An interesting question can encourage people to read your essay to find out the answer.
• Description: This is a unique and specific description of something (a person, event, time period, etc.) that relates to the argument you’re making in your essay.

Read the full article: Essay Hook Examples That Grab Attention (Formula For Better Grades)  

4. look at examples of explanatory essays.

When in doubt, examples can be your best friend. Especially if you are writing an explanatory essay, as there are many different subtypes. 

Explanatory essays examine a topic or situation in detail. You as the author provide evidence and facts to explain why something happened, why something works, or what something is. The essay must have an objective perspective, and the facts must speak for themselves.

The different types of explanatory essays include:

• How-tos: Step-by-step instructions on how to do something.
• Problem and solution: Explaining a problem and providing a solution.
• Chronology: Detailing something’s history or backstory in chronological order.
• Cause-and-effect analysis: Examining a phenomenon to explain what caused it and what it influenced.

Because of the various explanatory sub-types, it helps to look at different examples to decide which style works best for your subject. Looking at examples also gives you an idea of how to structure your essay and present your arguments effectively.

Read the full article: 7+ Explanatory Essay Examples That Get the Best Grades  

5. use ai to avoid plagiarism.

While there are several ways to avoid plagiarism, including expressing your research and findings in your own words and citing your sources, Wordtune can also help you. The AI technology produces text not written anywhere else on the internet — see for yourself by copying Wordtune’s generated text into search engines such as Google. 

Accidental plagiarism can make your work look less credible and unprofessional. In addition to making your research look underdeveloped, not referencing your sources correctly can suggest you’re trying to pass off other people’s ideas as your own. With the right tools, however, you can avoid this critical essay mistake.

Read the full article: 9 Steps to Avoid Plagiarism As a Student (Including Using AI)

6. break persuasive essays into manageable chunks.

Persuasive essays use research and logic to persuade the reader of your opinion on a particular subject. In some ways, this article is persuasive because I use research and examples to persuade (or at least encourage) you to practice these essay writing methods. 

If writing an argument intimidates you, this five-step list will break your essay into manageable chunks, making it easier to write.

• Identify a topic or issue that is arguable from more than one position . You must form an opinion and not argue a simple fact. Find a topic that has multiple theories and no conclusive evidence, such as “Is animal testing ethical?” or “Should students still study Shakespeare?”
• Use research to create your thesis (follow the steps mentioned earlier).
• Find evidence to back up your thesis . Double-check sources for credibility and try to spot missing information that could impact your argument.
• Address opposing ideas others may hold . Use search engines such as Google to research opposite arguments. For instance, if I believe animal testing is not ethical, I can research “Why animal testing is ethical” to find other theories. To respecfully show different opinions, first acknowledge the opposing view and evidence. Then, share your argument and provide logical evidence as to why your argument is the correct one.
• Create a convincing conclusion . Rather than repeating what you’ve already said, draw from the arguments you’ve made and point out how they logically prove your thesis.

Read the full article: How to Write a Persuasive Essay (This Convinced My Professor!)  

A successful essay formula.

Essays contain a lot of ingredients. From deciding on the right hook, to staying in line with the word count. But with the right tools — such as AI — and the use of smart hacks, you can create an effective formula that will make the essay writing process much easier.

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How To Write An Argumentative Essay

Table of Contents

Crafting a convincing argumentative essay can be challenging. You might feel lost about where to begin. But with a systematic approach and helpful tools that simplify sourcing and structuring, mastering good argumentative essay writing becomes achievable.

In this article, we'll explore what argumentative essays are, the critical steps to crafting a compelling argumentative essay, and best practices for essay organization.

What is an argumentative essay?

An argumentative essay asserts a clear position on a controversial or debatable topic and backs it up with evidence and reasoning. They are written to hone critical thinking, structure clear arguments, influence academic and public discourse, underpin reform proposals, and change popular narratives.

The fundamentals of a good argumentative essay

Let's explore the essential components that make argumentative essays compelling.

1 . The foundation: crafting a compelling claim for your argumentative essay

The claim is the cornerstone of your argumentative essay. It represents your main argument or thesis statement , setting the stage for the discussion.

A robust claim is straightforward, debatable, and focused, challenging readers to consider your viewpoint. It's not merely an observation but a stance you're prepared to defend with logic and evidence.

The strength of your essay hinges on the clarity and assertiveness of your claim, guiding readers through your argumentative journey.

2. The structure: Organizing your argument strategically

An effective argumentative essay should follow a logical structure to present your case persuasively. There are three models for structuring your argument essay:

• Classical: Introduce the topic, present the main argument, address counterarguments, and conclude . It is ideal for complex topics and prioritizes logical reasoning.
• Rogerian: Introduce the issue neutrally, acknowledge opposing views, find common ground, and seek compromise. It works well for audiences who dislike confrontational approaches.
• Toulmin: Introduce the issue, state the claim, provide evidence, explain the reasoning, address counterarguments, and reinforce the original claim. It confidently showcases an evidence-backed argument as superior.

Each model provides a framework for methodically supporting your position using evidence and logic. Your chosen structure depends on your argument's complexity, audience, and purpose.

3. The support: Leveraging evidence for your argumentative essay

The key is to select evidence that directly supports your claim, lending weight to your arguments and bolstering your position.

Effective use of evidence strengthens your argument and enhances your credibility, demonstrating thorough research and a deep understanding of the topic at hand.

4. The balance: Acknowledging counterarguments for the argumentative essay

A well-rounded argumentative essay acknowledges that there are two sides to every story. Introducing counterarguments and opposing viewpoints in an argument essay is a strategic move that showcases your awareness of alternative viewpoints.

This element of your argumentative essay demonstrates intellectual honesty and fairness, indicating that you have considered other perspectives before solidifying your position.

5. The counter: Mastering the art of rebuttal

A compelling rebuttal anticipates the counterclaims and methodically counters them, ensuring your position stands unchallenged. By engaging critically with counterarguments in this manner, your essay becomes more resilient and persuasive.

Ultimately, the strength of an argumentative essay is not in avoiding opposing views but in directly confronting them through reasoned debate and evidence-based.

How to write an argumentative essay

The workflow for crafting an effective argumentative essay involves several key steps:

Step 1 — Choosing a topic

Argumentative essay writing starts with selecting a topic with two or more main points so you can argue your position. Avoid topics that are too broad or have a clear right or wrong answer.

Use a semantic search engine to search for papers. Refine by subject area, publication date, citation count, institution, author, journal, and more to narrow down on promising topics. Explore citation interlinkages to ensure you pick a topic with sufficient academic discourse to allow crafting a compelling, evidence-based argument.

Seek an AI research assistant's help to assess a topic's potential and explore various angles quickly. They can generate both generic and custom questions tailored to each research paper. Additionally, look for tools that offer browser extensions . These allow you to interact with papers from sources like ArXiv, PubMed, and Wiley and evaluate potential topics from a broader range of academic databases and repositories.

Step 2 — Develop a thesis statement

Your thesis statement should clearly and concisely state your position on the topic identified. Ensure to develop a clear thesis statement which is a focused, assertive declaration that guides your discussion. Use strong, active language — avoid vague or passive statements.  Keep it narrowly focused enough to be adequately supported in your essay.

The SciSpace literature review tool can help you extract thesis statements from existing papers on your chosen topic. Create a custom column called 'thesis statement' to compare multiple perspectives in one place, allowing you to uncover various viewpoints and position your concise thesis statement appropriately.

Ask AI assistants questions or summarize key sections to clarify the positions taken in existing papers. This helps sharpen your thesis statement stance and identify gaps. Locate related papers in similar stances.

Step 3 — Researching and gathering evidence

The evidence you collect lends credibility and weight to your claims, convincing readers of your viewpoint. Effective evidence includes facts, statistics, expert opinions, and real-world examples reinforcing your thesis statement.

Use the SciSpace literature review tool to locate and evaluate high-quality studies. It quickly extracts vital insights, methodologies, findings, and conclusions from papers and presents them in a table format. Build custom tables with your uploaded PDFs or bookmarked papers. These tables can be saved for future reference or exported as CSV for further analysis or sharing.

AI-powered summarization tools can help you quickly grasp the core arguments and positions from lengthy papers. These can condense long sections or entire author viewpoints into concise summaries. Make PDF annotations to add custom notes and highlights to papers for easy reference. Data extraction tools can automatically pull key statistics from PDFs into spreadsheets for detailed quantitative analysis.

Step 4 — Build an outline

The argumentative model you choose will impact your outline's specific structure and progression. If you select the Classical model, your outline will follow a linear structure. On the other hand, if you opt for the Toulmin model, your outline will focus on meticulously mapping out the logical progression of your entire argument. Lastly, if you select the Rogerian model, your outline should explore the opposing viewpoint and seek a middle ground.

While the specific outline structure may vary, always begin the process by stating your central thesis or claim. Identify and organize your argument claims and main supporting points logically, adding 2-3 pieces of evidence under each point. Consider potential counterarguments to your position. Include 1-2 counterarguments for each main point and plan rebuttals to dismantle the opposition's reasoning. This balanced approach strengthens your overall argument.

As you outline, consider saving your notes, highlights, AI-generated summaries, and extracts in a digital notebook. Aggregating all your sources and ideas in one centralized location allows you to quickly refer to them as you draft your outline and essay.

To further enhance your workflow, you can use AI-powered writing or GPT tools to help generate an initial structure based on your crucial essay components, such as your thesis statement, main arguments, supporting evidence, counterarguments, and rebuttals.

Step 5 — Write your essay

Begin the introductory paragraph with a hook — a question, a startling statistic, or a bold statement to draw in your readers. Always logically structure your arguments with smooth transitions between ideas. Ensure the body paragraphs of argumentative essays focus on one central point backed by robust quantitative evidence from credible studies, properly cited.

Refer to the notes, highlights, and evidence you've gathered as you write. Organize these materials so that you can easily access and incorporate them into your draft while maintaining a logical flow. Literature review tables or spreadsheets can be beneficial for keeping track of crucial evidence from multiple sources.

Quote others in a way that blends seamlessly with the narrative flow. For numerical data, contextualize figures with practical examples. Try to pre-empt counterarguments and systematically dismantle them. Maintain an evidence-based, objective tone that avoids absolutism and emotional appeals. If you encounter overly complex sections during the writing process, use a paraphraser tool to rephrase and clarify the language. Finally, neatly tie together the rationale behind your position and directions for further discourse or research.

Step 6 — Edit, revise, and add references

Set the draft aside so that you review it with fresh eyes. Check for clarity, conciseness, logical flow, and grammar. Ensure the body reflects your thesis well. Fill gaps in reasoning. Check that every claim links back to credible evidence. Replace weak arguments. Finally, format your citations and bibliography using your preferred style.

To simplify editing, save the rough draft or entire essay as a PDF and upload it to an AI-based chat-with-PDF tool. Use it to identify gaps in reasoning, weaker arguments requiring ample evidence, structural issues hampering the clarity of ideas, and suggestions for strengthening your essay.

Use a citation tool to generate citations for sources instantly quoted and quickly compile your bibliography or works cited in RIS/BibTex formats. Export the updated literature review tables as handy CSV files to share with co-authors or reviewers in collaborative projects or attach them as supplementary data for journal submissions. You can also refer to this article that provides you with argumentative essay writing tips .

Final thoughts

Remember, the strength of your argumentative essay lies in the clarity of your strong argument, the robustness of supporting evidence, and the consideration with which you treat opposing viewpoints. Refining these core skills will make you a sharper, more convincing writer and communicator.

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Mastering the Art of Debating with AI: A Comprehensive Guide for Budding Debaters

posted on September 21, 2023

Debating is a powerful tool to develop critical thinking, communication skills, and confidence. It is a formal discussion that involves presenting and defending opinions on a particular topic. Debating is not just restricted to political arenas and competitions but has now become an essential part of academic and professional life. Debating allows you to articulate your thoughts and ideas while also giving you the opportunity to understand the perspectives of others. In this blog, we’ll discuss what debating is, why it is beneficial, how to debate, different types of debates, tips for beginners and advanced debaters, and the impact of debating on education and society.

Not everyone has the natural ability to debate, however. Some people find it daunting and are unsure where to start, while others struggle to put their thoughts into words. But don’t worry, with the help of Khanmigo, an AI-powered AI tutor developed by Khan Academy, we have you covered. This comprehensive guide will take you through what debating is, how to debate, and will provide you with some examples of practicing debates with Khanmigo.

How To Learn Alongside AI

What is debating.

Debating is the art of presenting an argument, with the aim of persuading others to agree with your point of view. Debating is all about being able to articulate your thoughts, supporting them with strong evidence, and presenting them in a coherent and convincing manner. 

The history of debating dates back centuries and has played a significant role in shaping societies and influencing decision-making processes. From Ancient Greek philosophers engaging in intellectual discourse to modern-day parliamentary debates, the art of argumentation and persuasion has evolved and thrived. Debating has not only fostered critical thinking and effective communication skills, but it has also provided a platform for the exchange of ideas, the examination of different perspectives, and the pursuit of truth.

The Impact of Debating on Education and Society

Debating plays a crucial role in creating informed and active members of society. In academic settings, it is a vital tool to develop critical thinking and effective communication skills (Oros, 2007). By engaging in debates, students are encouraged to analyze complex issues from multiple perspectives and formulate well-reasoned arguments. This process enhances their ability to think critically and evaluate evidence, which are essential skills for success in both academic and professional contexts (Chowning, 2017).

Moreover, debating provides a platform to confidently express and articulate ideas and opinions. Through the practice of presenting arguments and counterarguments, individuals learn to express themselves clearly and persuasively (Reznitskaya, 2001). This skill is valuable not only in academic settings but also in various real-life situations, such as job interviews and public speaking engagements. Research has shown that individuals who engage in debating activities are more likely to develop effective communication skills that positively impact their personal and professional relationships (Butt, 2015).

In addition to its academic benefits, debating contributes to a culture of constructive dialogue and a respectful exchange of ideas. By encouraging individuals to listen to opposing viewpoints and engage in reasoned discussions, debating fosters mutual understanding and empathy (Kennedy, 2007). This kind of respectful exchange of ideas is essential to the healthy functioning of democratic societies, as it promotes tolerance, openness, and cooperation. Through debating, individuals learn to challenge their own beliefs and consider alternative perspectives, leading to a more inclusive and diverse society (Sunay, 2012).

Ultimately, a society that is capable of critical thinking and effective communication is more united and collaborative. Debating equips individuals with the skills they need to engage in constructive dialogue, find common ground, and work towards shared goals (Fiore, 2017). It empowers citizens to participate in public discourse, leading to more informed decision-making processes and the development of innovative solutions to societal challenges. Therefore, promoting debating as a valuable activity in education and society at large can contribute to the overall well-being and progress of communities.

Debating plays a significant role in creating informed and active members of society. It fosters critical thinking and effective communication skills, provides a platform for confidently expressing ideas, and contributes to a culture of respectful exchange of ideas. By developing these skills and promoting a culture of constructive dialogue, societies can become more united, collaborative, and better equipped to address the complex challenges of the modern world.

How to Debate

Now that we know what debating is, let’s dive into how to become a master debater. Here are some tips to help you improve your debating skills:

• Know your topic : Make sure you have a deep understanding of the topic you will be debating. Do your research and gather as much information as possible to enable you to make informed arguments. You can use an AI learning tool like Khanmigo to build and review knowledge on your topic to ensure you understand it deeply. 
• . Structure your arguments : Your arguments should be well-structured and organized. Start with a clear introduction that states your point of view. Follow this up with supporting arguments and evidence to back up your claims. Finally, conclude your argument with a strong summary of your main points.
• Practice : The more you practice debating, the more comfortable and confident you will become. You can practice by engaging in debates with friends, family, or even on a debate platform like Khanmigo.
• Listen to others : Listening to other people’s arguments is just as important as presenting your own. Pay attention to what others are saying and respond appropriately. This will facilitate an open and respectful dialogue and allow you to present your own arguments more effectively.

Examples of Practicing Debates with Khanmigo

Khanmigo is an AI-powered guide that offers personalized tutoring to learners and an assistant to teachers. One of the features of Khanmigo is the ability to engage in debates with the AI. You can choose from a range of topics and levels of difficulty, and Khanmigo will respond to your arguments in real time. This is a fantastic tool to practice your debating skills, as you can receive immediate feedback and guidance on how to improve. Here is an example of how you can practice debates with Khanmigo:

Khanmigo: “Let’s have a debate! Formal debates have a very specific structure, but we’re going to keep things more casual here. We’ll each take a side on a topic and make arguments to support our position while also countering the other person’s arguments. At the end, I’ll offer some feedback on how you can improve your debating skills.

If you’re ready, choose a topic from the list to get started!”

Student (via button): “Yes, let’s debate whether large tech companies should be broken up.” Khanmigo : “Fantastic choice! It’s like choosing between a giant pizza or several small ones. Now, do you think large tech companies should be broken up, or should they stay as they are? Give me your first argument, and let’s get this ball rolling!” Student : “I think they should be broken up.” Khanmigo : “Alright, you’re the captain of the break ’em up boat! Let’s hear your first argument. Why do you think these Big Tech whales should be split into smaller fish?” Student : “I think the large companies constrict competition from new market entrants. I also think these companies are motivated to become rent seekers (and often act in this way). Finally, I think that too much concentrated power creates risk for a free democratic society.” Khanmigo : “Ah, you’ve got some spicy meatballs there! You’re saying Big Tech is like a giant octopus, squeezing out the little fish.—and they’re like greedy pirates hoarding all the treasure. Plus, they’re like a big, scary monster, threatening our freedom. I get it. But here’s a twist. What if these Big Tech whales are actually helping the little fish? They provide platforms for small businesses to reach customers—and they invest in new technologies that benefit us all. Plus, they create jobs. So, breaking them up might be like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. What do you think?”

…. And so on

Hone you Debating Skills With Khanmigo!

Debating is an essential skill that requires practice, patience, and perseverance. With the guidance of Khanmigo, you can improve your debating skills and become a master debater in no time. Remember to know your topic, structure your arguments, practice, and most importantly, listen to others. Engaging in debates with Khanmigo is a fantastic way to hone your skills, receive immediate feedback, and learn from your mistakes. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get debating!

Andrew L. Oros (2007) Let’s Debate: Active Learning Encourages Student Participation and Critical Thinking , Journal of Political Science Education, 3:3, 293-311

Jeanne Ting Chowning ,Joan Carlton Griswold,Dina N. Kovarik,Laura J. Collins (2012) Fostering Critical Thinking, Reasoning, and Argumentation Skills through Bioethics Education, Journal Plos One , Published: May 11, 2012

Alina Reznitskaya , Richard C. Anderson , Brian McNurlen , Kim Nguyen-Jahiel , Anthi Archodidou & So-young Kim (2001) Influence of Oral Discussion on Written Argument, Discourse Processes , 32:2-3, 155-175, DOI: 10.1080/0163853X.2001.9651596

N. Butt, (2010) Argument construction, argument evaluation, and decision-making: A content analysis of argumentation and debate textbooks , Wayne State University

Kennedy R., (2007) In-Class Debates: Fertile Ground for Active Learning and the Cultivation of Critical Thinking and Oral Communication Skills , International Journal of TEACHING & LEARNING In Higher Education, Volume 19 • Number 2 • 2007

Sunay R., (2012), The importance of public debate in democratic regimes , European Scientific Journal, 2012

Stephen M. Fiore, Art Graesser, Samuel Greiff, Patrick Griffin, Brian Gong, Patrick Kyllonen, Christine Massey, Harry O’Neil, Jim Pellegrino, Robert Rothman, Helen Soulé, Alina von Davier (2017), Collaborative Problem Solving: Considerations for the National Assessment of Educational Progress , National Center for Education Statistics 

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Artificial Intelligence Argumentative Essay – With Outline

Published by Boni on May 4, 2023 May 4, 2023

Artificial Intelligence Argumentative Essay Outline

In recent years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become one of the rapidly developing fields and as its capabilities continue to expand, its potential impact on society has become a topic of intense debate. Different people have different views regqarding AI making this topic a bit challenging especially to students writing an argumentative essay on AI. However, with the help of a trustworthy research paper writing service , students can get guarentee themselves quality papers that will get them good grades.

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Topic: Artificial Intelligence Argumentative Essay

Introduction

Thesis: Artificial Intelligence cannot replace human intelligence no matter how sophisticated it may get.

Supporting arguments

Paragraph 1:

AI lacks emotional intelligence.

• Emotional intelligence makes human beings perpetually relevant at work. 
• Humans are social animals and they feel emotionally connected to other people.
• AI cannot imitate emotional intelligence.

Paragraph 2:

AI can only operate using the data it is given.

• The machine is useless if the data entered into it does not include a new field of work.
• AI does not automatically adapt to any circumstance.
• AI cannot easily mimic the capacity of the human brain to analyze, develop, innovate, maneuver, and collect information.

Paragraph 3:

AI is limited by its coding and its inability to think creatively.

• AI’s coding prevents them from coming up with original solutions to problems.
• Robots are designed to operate within their constraints.
• AI cannot analyze the context, consider complex events critically, or create intricate plans.

Paragraph 4:

AI lacks soft skills.

• Soft skills are a must for every employee.
• Soft skills are alien to artificially intelligent computers.
• Humans have an advantage over AI in the workplace thanks to soft skills.

Paragraph 5:

AI is a creation of humans and it is humans that make it work.

• Without human intelligence, artificial intelligence would not exist.
• The lines of code that are used to create AI are written by humans.
• Humans provide the data that AI machines use to operate.

Paragraph 6:

While humans can develop relationships, AI will never achieve that.

• Relationships are the foundation of many things.
• Humans have to communicate and work together with fellow humans.
• Machines cannot understand this emotional aspect of human behavior.

Paragraph 7:

AI will never express empathy, whereas humans can.

• Humans can express their emotions.
• AI cannot read other people’s emotions and display expressions.
• While AI-based devices can mimic human speech, they do not have empathy and the human touch.

Paragraph 8:

AI requires fact-checking.

• AI chatbots often make mistakes and need human moderators.
• While AI can learn incredibly quickly, it does not have common sense.
• AI cannot reason and challenge the truth to the same extent that humans can.

Paragraph 9:

AI cannot replace important human skills like critical thinking, time management, interpersonal skills, and analytical skills.

• Machines lack the human critical-thought ability.
• Machines are not as good at setting priorities or managing their time as humans.
• Machines lack the human ability to evaluate data and develop conclusions.

Struggling to get a proper argumentative topic for your paper? Here is a well researched list of argumentative research paper topics that will give you brilliant ideas.

Counterarguments and rebuttals

Paragraph 10:

Some people could argue that AI could soon catch up with and replace human intelligence.

• This is becausemachines can now perform cognitively complicated tasks.
• This could mean all work could be delegated to robots.
• However, this is not true because AI lacks intuition, emotion, or cultural sensitivity.

Paragraph 11:

Some people also argue that AI will push people out of jobs in a few years to come.

• AI use in the workplace is growing.
• Many current positions will be replaced by AI.
• However, the kind of work that AI can perform is often repetitious needing less sophisticated reasoning.
• AI will never replace human intelligence or humans in the workplace.
• Human intelligence is still far much superior to what AI can accomplish.
• AI’s abilities will enhance humanity rather than replace it.
• As AI technology advances, more jobs may be created.

Learn the best way to write a killer argumentative essay that will get you an A+ grade step by step.

Artificial Intelligence Argumentative Essay

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the kind of intelligence displayed by machines. It is the capacity of a machine, specifically a computer, to replicate mental functions. The natural intelligence of people is in contrast to artificial intelligence. Numerous technologies are being created to educate computer systems on how to plan, understand, learn from experience, recognize objects, make judgments, and solve issues. Machines can carry out human-like tasks like driving a car or having a conversation by mimicking these abilities. AI has ingrained itself into humans’ daily lives and is here to stay. It is working alongside humans to efficiently and quickly meet societal needs, which is having a significant, beneficial impact on numerous industries and people’s lives. Some people feel that AI has become so efficient that it could replace humans in the future. However, Artificial Intelligence cannot replace human intelligence no matter how sophisticated it may get.

AI cannot replace human intelligence because it lacks emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is one distinctive quality that makes human beings perpetually relevant at work. The value of emotional intelligence in the workplace, particularly when working with clients, cannot be overstated. Humans are social animals, and one fundamental, indisputable desire that they have is to feel emotionally connected to other people. While AI tries to imitate human intelligence, emotional intelligence is more difficult to mimic than intellectual intelligence (Oluwaniyi, 2023). This is because emotional intelligence requires empathy and a profound understanding of the human condition, particularly suffering and pain (Oluwaniyi, 2023). AI is incapable of experiencing these feelings. Smart corporate executives and entrepreneurs are aware of the value of appealing to the emotions of their personnel and customers. Such degrees of human connection is impossible for machines to accomplish, but there are techniques for humans to develop their emotional intelligence. Systems with artificial intelligence are quick, logical, and precise. However, they lack intuition, empathy, and cultural awareness (Prajapat, 2022). It is these abilities that make humans more effective. Only a human being can read a person’s facial expression and know just what to say.

In the same breath, AI is only able to operate using the data it is given. Anything beyond that would be asking too much of it, and machines are not made that way. Therefore, the machine is useless if the data entered into it does not include a new field of work or if its algorithm does not account for unexpected events. These circumstances are frequent in the manufacturing and tech sectors, and AI builders are continuously looking for interim solutions (Oluwaniyi, 2023). One of the many prevalent misconceptions about artificial intelligence is the notion that technologies will automatically adapt to any circumstance. It follows that AI will never permeate every industry and reduce the need for human professional expertise (Oluwaniyi, 2023). AI cannot easily mimic human reasoning or the capacity of the human brain to analyze, develop, innovate, maneuver, and collect information.

AI is also limited by its coding and its inability to think creatively. AI’s coding prevents them from coming up with original solutions to a variety of developing issues. Robots are designed to operate within their constraints (Prajapat, 2022). A machine could think for itself someday. However, that will not happen anytime soon in the real world. Artificial intelligence cannot analyze the context, consider complex events critically, or create intricate plans (Prajapat, 2022). Teams and organizations connect with the outside world regularly. However, AI can only process information that has already been input into its system. It cannot account for the influence from outside, unlike humans. In real work environments, it is important to have the flexibility to distill a vision and plan while coping with abrupt changes and skewed information sharing (Prajapat, 2022). Human intuition, a crucial component of daily work, especially for high-level executives, drives this skill.

Further, AI lacks soft skills. In the workplace, soft skills are a must for every employee. To name just a few, they include collaboration, focus on detail, creative and critical thinking, excellent communication skills, and interpersonal skills (Larson, 2021). Every industry needs these soft skills, so one must acquire them if one wants to thrive in one’s career. These are skills that humans learn and are expected to have. Learning them is beneficial for everybody, regardless of position. Both business leaders and a group of field personnel in any industry depend on these skills to succeed. Consequently, humans have an advantage over AI in the workplace thanks to soft skills. Soft skills, however, are alien to artificially intelligent computers. These soft skills are essential for professional development and progress, but AI cannot create them (Larson, 2021). Higher levels of emotional intelligence and thinking are needed to develop the skills.

Additionally, it is general knowledge that AI is a creation of humans and it is humans that make it work. Without human intelligence, artificial intelligence would not exist. Artificial intelligence is intelligence created by humans. The lines of code that are used to create AI are written by humans. Humans provide the data that AI machines use to operate (Larson, 2021). Humans are also the ones who operate these machines. Human services will become more and more in demand as AI applications expand. These machines need to be built, run, and maintained by someone who also designs the AI systems (Larson, 2021). This can only be done by humans. These facts give one the confidence to refute any theories that AI will replace human intelligence. 

Furthermore, while humans can develop relationships, AI will never achieve that. Relationships are the foundation of many things. Humans have to communicate and work together with fellow humans. Additionally, many people do better individually when working in teams. On the same note, teams produce better and more inventive results, according to numerous studies (Prajapat, 2022). The most crucial component of employee engagement is an emotional commitment and ties with teammates, which demonstrate how much humans care about their work and the organizations they work for. Because people prefer to work with like-minded individuals, relationships also aid in locating partners and clients (Prajapat, 2022). However, machines are unable to understand this emotional aspect of human behavior.

In addition, AI will never express empathy, whereas humans can. Humans can express their emotions, including joy, satisfaction, grief, thanksgiving, hope, goodness, and optimism (Prajapat, 2022). There are a virtually infinite number of different emotions that humans can feel and let out. Furthermore, it is impossible to imagine AI being able to read others’ emotions and display all expressions better than a human being can. Several work situations call for the establishment of trust and human-to-human connections in order to get workers to relax, open up, and communicate about themselves (Prajapat, 2022). While AI-based devices can mimic human speech, they do not have empathy and the human touch.

AI also falls short of the human intelligence level in that it requires fact-checking. The fact that AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT, often make mistakes and need human moderators to double-check their facts is a major issue. While AI can learn incredibly quickly, it does not have common sense and is simply unable to reason and challenge the truth to the same extent that humans can (Oluwaniyi, 2023). This is why technology users should probably refrain from asking AI chatbots certain questions. The lesson here is that fact-checking will probably become a serious career in the future since artificial intelligence cannot regulate itself and requires external supervision (Oluwaniyi, 2023). One might want to hone their research skills in the interim in anticipation of this potential future career path.

Further, AI cannot replace such important human skills as critical thinking, time management, interpersonal skills, and analytical skills. Machines are quite good at analyzing data, but they lack the human critical-thought ability. It is a skill that is required in many professions, such as commerce, law, and medicine. On the same note, while machines are capable of performing tasks quickly and efficiently, they are not as good at setting priorities or managing their time as humans are (Cremer, 2020). Time management is essential in many different industries, including healthcare, education, and project management. Similarly, interpersonal skills, such as dispute resolution, active listening, and empathy enable humans to develop important connections and interactions with fellow humans. These skills are required for many different professions, including human resource management, social work, and counseling. On another note, machines can analyze data and provide recommendations, but they do not have the human ability to evaluate the data and develop conclusions (Cremer, 2020). Analytical skills are essential in many different disciplines, including finance, engineering, and science.  

Some people could argue that with the rate at which AI is evolving, it could soon catch up with and replace human intelligence. The practice of humans outsourcing their work to machines began with routine, repetitive physical jobs such as weaving. Machines have advanced to the point where they can now perform tasks that could be considered cognitively complicated, such as solving mathematical equations, understanding speech and language, and writing. So, it appears that machines are prepared to duplicate not just human physical work but also human’s mental work. In the twenty-first century, AI is improving to the point that it can perform many activities better than humans, making humans appear ready to delegate their intelligence to machines (Cremer & Kasparov, 2021). With this most recent trend, it appears as though everything will soon be automatable, which means that no work will be immune from being delegated to robots. This picture of the future of labor resembles a zero-sum contest in which there can be only one victor. However, this interpretation of how AI will affect the workplace is misleading. The contention of whether AI will replace human employees assumes that the two species share the same attributes and skills, yet this is untrue. AI-based systems are quicker, more precise, and always rational, but they lack intuition, emotion, or cultural sensitivity (Cremer & Kasparov, 2021). It is precisely these skills that humans have, which make them superior to machines.

Some people also argue that since AI may outperform humans in many different aspects, it will push people out of jobs in a few years to come. For instance, according to Larkin (2022), over 67 percent of American workers believe robots will take their jobs within fifty years. The use of artificial intelligence applications in the workplace is growing, and many current positions will be replaced by them. However, the kind of work that such applications can perform, is often repetitious ones needing less sophisticated reasoning. As the world transitions to a more connected information and communication technology ecosystem, new positions for people will also be created by changing workplace demands. According to an analysis by the World Economic Forum, while machines using AI will displace roughly 85 million jobs in 2025, AI will also create about 97 million new employment positions in the same year (“The Future of Jobs Report 2020,” 2020). Thus, the concern should be how humans can collaborate with AI rather than having it replace them. This is what people should concentrate on. Because, it will be difficult, even impossible, to survive in the modern era without AI. Similarly, AI will not survive without the input of humans.

No matter the level to which AI may advance, it will not replace human intelligence nor will it replace humans at the workplace. The human-like intelligence is still very distant from what the world’s AI technology can accomplish. Despite all the concerns, the majority of AI machines are built to be exceptionally good at tackling a specific problem in the setting of a certain data system. On the other hand, human imagination, wisdom, and contextual knowledge are essential to the success of AI. This is due to the straightforward fact that people will always be able to provide value that robots cannot. Thus, it can be summed up that AI’s abilities will enhance humanity rather than replace it. Because of this, top-tier and progressive firms have begun implementing AI to improve their experiences, productivity, and organizational agility. Overall, it can be seen that as AI technology advances, more jobs may be created.

Cremer, D. (2020). Leadership by algorithm: Who leads and who follows in the AI era? Harriman House.

Cremer, D., & Kasparov, G. (2021, March 18). AI should augment human intelligence, not replace it . Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/03/ai-should-augment-human-intelligence-not-replace-it  

Larkin, C. (2022, September 27). AI won’t replace human intuition . Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2022/09/27/ai-wont-replace-human-intuition/?sh=7f25bf1267bf

Larson, E. J. (2021). The myth of artificial intelligence: Why computers can’t think the way we do . Harvard University Press.

Oluwaniyi, R. (2023, March 15). 7 reasons why artificial intelligence can’t replace humans at work . MUO. https://www.makeuseof.com/reasons-artificial-intelligence-cant-replace-humans/#:~:text=Regardless%20of%20how%20well%20AI,is%20vital%20for%20business%20growth .

Prajapat, J. (2022, May 17). Why A.I. artificial intelligence can’t replace humans? LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-ai-artificial-intelligence-cant-replace-humans-jitendra-prajapat/?trk=pulse-article_more-articles_related-content-card

The Future of Jobs Report 2020 . (2020, October 20). World Economic Forum. Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-future-of-jobs-report-2020/in-full/executive-summary

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The rise of the ‘machine defendant’ – who’s to blame when an AI makes mistakes?

Associate Professor, Monash Business School, Director Corporate Law, Organisation and Litigation Research Group (CLOL), Monash University

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Few industries remain untouched by the potential for transformation through artificial intelligence (AI) – or at least the hype.

For business, the technology’s promise goes far beyond writing emails. It’s already being used to automate a wide range of business processes and interactions, coach employees , and even help doctors analyse medical data.

Competition between the various creators of AI models – including OpenAI, Meta, Anthropic and Google – will continue to drive rapid improvement.

We should expect these systems to get much smarter over time, which means we may begin to trust them with more and more responsibility.

The big question then becomes: what if something goes badly wrong? Who’s ultimately responsible for the decisions made by a machine?

My research has examined this very problem. Worryingly, our current legal frameworks may not be up to scratch.

We seem to have avoided catastrophe – so far

As any technology advances, it is inevitable things will go wrong. We’ve already seen this with the internet, which has delivered enormous benefits to society but also created a host of new problems – such as social media addiction , data breaches and the rise of cybercrime .

So far, we seem to have avoided a global internet catastrophe. Yet the CrowdStrike outage in July – which quickly brought businesses and many other services to a standstill – offered a timely reminder of just how reliant on technology we’ve become, and how quickly things can fall apart in such an interdependent web.

Read more: One small update brought down millions of IT systems around the world. It's a timely warning

Like the early internet, generative AI also promises society immense benefits, but is likely to have some significant and unpredictable downsides.

There’s certainly been no shortage of warnings. At the extreme, some experts believe out-of-control AI could pose a “ nuclear-level ” threat, and present a major existential risk for humanity.

One of the most obvious risks is that “bad actors” – such as organised crime groups and rogue nation states – use the technology to deliberately cause harm. This could include using deepfakes and other misinformation to influence elections, or to conduct cybercrimes en masse. We’ve already seen examples of such use.

Less dramatic, but still highly problematic, are the risks that arise when we entrust important tasks and responsibilities to AI, particularly in running businesses and other essential services. It’s certainly no stretch of the imagination to envisage a future global tech outage caused by computer code written and shipped entirely by AI.

When these AIs make autonomous decisions that inadvertently cause harm – whether financial loss or actual injury – whom do we hold liable?

Our laws aren’t prepared

Worryingly, our existing theories of legal liability may be ill-equipped for this new reality.

This is because apart from some product liability laws, current theories often require fault through an intention, or at least provable negligence by an individual.

A claim for negligence, for example, will require that the harm was reasonably foreseeable and actually caused by the conduct of the designer, manufacturer, seller or whoever else might be defendant in a particular case.

But as AI systems continue to advance and become more intelligent, they will almost certainly do things with outcomes that may not have been completely expected or anticipated by their manufacturers, designers, and so on.

This “ emergent behaviour ” could arise because the AI has become more intelligent than its creators. But it could also reflect self-protective and then self-interested drives or objectives by advanced AI systems.

My own research seeks to highlight a major looming problem in the way we assess liability.

In a hypothetical case in which an AI has caused significant harm, its human and corporate creators may be able to shield themselves from criminal or civil liability.

They could do this by arguing that the damage was not reasonably foreseeable by them, or that the AI’s unexpected actions broke the chain of causation between the conduct of the manufacturer and the loss, damage or harm suffered by the victims.

These would be possible defences to both criminal or civil actions.

So, too, would be the criminal defence argument that what’s called the “ fault element ” of an offence – intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence – of the AI system’s designer had not been matched by the necessary “ physical element ” – which in this instance would have been committed by a machine.

We need to prepare now

Market forces are already driving things rapidly forward in artificial intelligence. To where, exactly, is less certain.

It may turn out that the common law we have now, developed through the courts, is adaptable enough to deal with these new problems. But it’s also possible we’ll find current laws lacking, which could add a sense of injustice to any future disasters.

It will be important to make sure those corporations who have profited most from the development of AI are also made responsible for its costs and consequences if things go wrong.

Preparing to address this problem should be a priority for the courts and governments of all nation states, not just Australia.

• Artificial intelligence (AI)
• Corporate law
• Machine learning
• Criminal negligence
• AI deepfakes

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Guest Essay

Will A.I. Be a Creator or a Destroyer of Worlds?

By Thomas B. Edsall

Mr. Edsall contributes a weekly column from Washington, D.C., on politics, demographics and inequality.

The advent of A.I. — artificial intelligence — is spurring curiosity and fear. Will A.I. be a creator or a destroyer of worlds?

In “ Can We Have Pro-Worker A.I. ? Choosing a Path of Machines in Service of Minds,” three economists at M.I.T., Daron Acemoglu , David Autor and Simon Johnson , looked at this epochal innovation last year:

The private sector in the United States is currently pursuing a path for generative A.I. that emphasizes automation and the displacement of labor, along with intrusive workplace surveillance. As a result, disruptions could lead to a potential downward cascade in wage levels, as well as inefficient productivity gains. Before the advent of artificial intelligence, automation was largely limited to blue-collar and office jobs using digital technologies while more complex and better-paying jobs were left untouched because they require flexibility, judgment and common sense.

Now, Acemoglu, Autor and Johnson wrote, A.I. presents a direct threat to those high-skill jobs: “A major focus of A.I. research is to attain human parity in a vast range of cognitive tasks and, more generally, to achieve ‘artificial general intelligence’ that fully mimics and then surpasses capabilities of the human mind.”

The three economists make the case that

There is no guarantee that the transformative capabilities of generative A.I. will be used for the betterment of work or workers. The bias of the tax code, of the private sector generally, and of the technology sector specifically, leans toward automation over augmentation. But there are also potentially powerful A.I.-based tools that can be used to create new tasks, boosting expertise and productivity across a range of skills. To redirect A.I. development onto the human-complementary path requires changes in the direction of technological innovation, as well as in corporate norms and behavior. This needs to be backed up by the right priorities at the federal level and a broader public understanding of the stakes and the available choices. We know this is a tall order.

“Tall” is an understatement.

In an email elaborating on the A.I. paper, Acemoglu contended that artificial intelligence has the potential to improve employment prospects rather than undermine them:

It is quite possible to leverage generative A.I. as an informational tool that enables various different types of workers to get better at their jobs and perform more complex tasks. If we are able to do this, this would help create good, meaningful jobs, with wage growth potential, and may even reduce inequality. Think of a generative A.I. tool that helps electricians get much better at diagnosing complex problems and troubleshoot them effectively.

This, however, “is not where we are heading,” Acemoglu continued:

The preoccupation of the tech industry is still automation and more automation, and the monetization of data via digital ads. To turn generative A.I. pro-worker, we need a major course correction, and this is not something that’s going to happen by itself.

Acemoglu pointed out that unlike the regional trade shock that decimated manufacturing employment after China entered the World Trade Organization in 2001, “The kinds of tasks impacted by A.I. are much more broadly distributed in the population and also across regions.” In other words, A.I. threatens employment at virtually all levels of the economy, including well-paid jobs requiring complex cognitive capabilities.

Four technology specialists — Tyna Eloundou and Pamela Mishkin , both on the staff of OpenAI , with Sam Manning , a research fellow at the Centre for the Governance of A.I., and Daniel Rock at the University of Pennsylvania — provided a detailed case study on the employment effects of artificial intelligence in their 2023 paper, “ GPTs Are GPTs : An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models.”

“Around 80 percent of the U.S. work force could have at least 10 percent of their work tasks affected by the introduction of large language models,” Eloundou and her co-authors wrote, and “approximately 19 percent of workers may see at least 50 percent of their tasks impacted.”

Large language models have multiple and diverse uses, according to Eloundou and her colleagues, and “can process and produce various forms of sequential data, including assembly language, protein sequences and chess games, extending beyond natural.” In addition, these models “excel in diverse applications like translation, classification, creative writing, and code generation — capabilities that previously demanded specialized, task-specific models developed by expert engineers using domain-specific data.”

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AI-Generated Essays On The Rise In College Applications: Educators Debate Impact and Ethics

More and more applicants for higher ed are using AI. How best to respond to these applications is causing debate.

Valerio Capraro, a psychology professor at the University of Milan, has recently seen an uptick in research statements from PhD applicants that appear to be at least partially AI-generated.

“I would say that almost all applications show traces of AI-generated content, and about half seem entirely AI-generated,” says Capraro, who studies social behavior and AI. “This trend is very concerning.”

Capraro recently posted on social media about one such submission he received. After the post unexpectedly went viral, Capraro was surprised to learn that many educators were angry at him for assuming the piece had been AI-generated, and even accused him of discrimination—with one angry educator contacting his department to complain.

“[They] were claiming that I was discriminating against non-native English speakers,” he says, adding that the accusation doesn’t make sense in his context. “All our applicants are, in fact, non-native English speakers.”

In the end, Capraro did not accept this specific application, not because he suspected it was AI-generated, but because it was not compelling, as is the case with much AI-generated text currently.

Ultimately, the incident highlights both the increase in AI-generated college submissions from undergraduate applicants to graduate and PhD programs, and the challenges those reading these submissions face. Existing AI detection tools are flawed and there as is as yet no consensus on how best to respond to AI-generated content.

Using AI For College Admissions 

As AI becomes more available, some educators are even questioning why preventing students from using AI-generated application materials is a problem.

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Jeffrey Hancock, a communications professor at Stanford University, recently told the publication CalMatters that students might have stronger applications using AI-generated essays . Hancock suggests doing this by custom training a tool such as ChatGPT on a mix of good and bad college essays. The AI can be told to emulate the good essays and avoid patterns in the bad ones. This strategy might be particularly appealing because many colleges have been slow to implement specific policies regarding AI use in application materials. However, getting caught using AI is still likely to hurt applications to most institutions.

The Common App, used by more than 1 million students annually, has a policy against AI use, said Jackson Sternberg, a PR specialist with the company, via email. Students using the system must agree to the app's terms of service, which prohibit the transmission of fraudulent information, and then sign an affirmation that what they are submitting is their own work. The app’s fraud policy explicitly prohibits submitting "substantive" AI-generated content.

“We investigate all fraud allegations, and if they are substantiated, we take appropriate disciplinary steps," Sternberg said.

Even so, much of the vetting process is left to the higher ed institutions themselves. “Individual member colleges process and review applicant data based on their own policies and procedures,” Sternberg added.

What Educators and Students Can Do  

Capraro believes the best course of action is to engage with AI-generated submission materials the same way he would any other material. “It is the content that counts,” he says. “AI-generated text tends to be just average. It might look good for a high-school essay, but if you are an evaluator for an advanced position, like a PhD fellowship, then AI-generated text tend to get very low grades, not because it is generated by AI, but because it is superficial and often incorrect. As an evaluator, I focus on the content rather than the form.”

Students completing various applications should be encouraged to use AI to help, not replace, their writing, Capraro says. As a non-native English speaker, he’s used AI to help his English writing improve immensely over the past year. For this reason, he doesn’t think applicants should necessarily be prohibited from using AI. “They should be discouraged from over-relying on it as a shortcut for avoiding working,” he says. “Applicants need to understand that there are no real shortcuts in professional settings. Especially for competitive positions, the personal input is fundamental.”

Capraro adds that ultimately AI won’t be good enough for the most ambitious applicants, and that this could be the most effective message to students. “I think that people who will over-rely on AI in the next years will just regress to the average and get the average jobs,” he says.

• Creating a Responsible AI Policy: Top 10 Things to Know
• Teaching Writing With AI Without Replacing Thinking: 4 Tips

Erik Ofgang is a Tech & Learning contributor. A journalist,  author  and educator, his work has appeared in The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Smithsonian, The Atlantic, and Associated Press. He currently teaches at Western Connecticut State University’s MFA program. While a staff writer at Connecticut Magazine he won a Society of Professional Journalism Award for his education reporting. He is interested in how humans learn and how technology can make that more effective. 

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The AI world's most valuable resource is running out, and it's scrambling to find an alternative: 'fake' data

• The AI industry has a major problem: The real-world data used to make smarter models is running out.
• Companies scrambling for an alternative think synthetic data could offer a solution.
• Research suggests synthetic data could poison AI with low-quality information.

The AI world is on the cusp of running out of its most valuable resource — and it's leading industry leaders into a fierce debate over a fast-growing alternative being touted as a replacement: synthetic data, or essentially "fake" data.

For years, the likes of OpenAI and Google have scraped data from the internet to train the large language models that power their AI tools and features. These LLMs digested reams of text, video, and other media online produced by humans over centuries — be it research papers, novels, or YouTube clips.

Now, the supply of "real," human-generated data is running dry. The research firm Epoch AI predicts textual data could run out by 2028 . Meanwhile, companies that have mined every corner of the internet for usable training data — sometimes breaking their policies to do so — face increased restrictions on what remains.

To some, that's not necessarily a problem. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has argued that AI models should eventually produce synthetic data good enough to train themselves effectively . The allure is obvious: Training data has become one of the most precious resources in the AI boom, and the prospect of generating it cheaply and seemingly infinitely is tantalizing.

Still, researchers debate whether synthetic data is the magic bullet, with some arguing this path could lead to AI models poisoning themselves with poor-quality information and that they could "collapse" as a result.

A recent paper published by a group of Oxford and Cambridge researchers said that feeding a model with AI-generated data eventually led it to produce gibberish . AI-generated data was not unusable for training, the authors found, and should be balanced with real-world data.

As the well of usable human-generated data dries up, more companies look into using synthetic data. In 2021, the research firm Gartner predicted that by 2024, 60% of data used for developing AI would be synthetically generated.

"It's a crisis," said Gary Marcus, an AI analyst and professor emeritus of psychology and neural science at New York University. "People had the illusion that you could infinitely make large language models better by just using more and more data, but now they've basically used all the data they can."

He added: "Yes, it will help you with some problems, but the deeper problem is that these systems don't really reason; they don't really plan. All the synthetic data you can imagine is not going to solve that foundational problem."

More companies create synthetic data

The need for "fake" data hinges on the notion that real-world data is quickly running out.

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This is partly because tech firms have been moving as fast as possible to use publicly available data to train AI in an effort to outsmart rivals. It's also because online data owners have become increasingly wary of companies taking their data for free.

OpenAI researchers revealed in 2020 how they used free data from Common Crawl, a web crawler that the AI company said contained "nearly a trillion words" from online resources, to train the AI model that would eventually power ChatGPT .

Research published in July by the Data Provenance Initiative found websites were putting restrictions in place to stop AI firms from using data that didn't belong to them. News publications and other top sites are increasingly blocking AI companies from freely cribbing their data.

To get around this problem, companies such as OpenAI and Google are cutting checks for tens of millions of dollars for access to data from Reddit and news outlets , which act as conveyor belts of fresh data for training models. Even this has its limitations.

"There are no longer major areas of the textual web just waiting to be grabbed," Nathan Lambert, a researcher at the Allen Institute for AI, wrote in May.

This is where synthetic data comes in. Rather than being pulled from the real world, synthetic data is generated by AI systems that have been trained on real-world data.

In June, for instance, Nvidia released an AI model that can create artificial datasets for training and alignment. In July, researchers at the Chinese tech giant Tencent created a synthetic-data generator called Persona Hub , which does a similar job.

Some startups, such as Gretel and SynthLabs, are even popping up with the sole purpose of generating and selling troves of specific types of data to companies that need it.

Proponents of synthetic data offer fair reasons for its use. Like the real world, human-generated data is often messy, leaving researchers with the complex and laborious task of cleaning and labeling it before it can be used.

Synthetic data may fill holes that human data cannot. In late July, Meta introduced Llama 3.1 , a new series of AI models that generate synthetic data and rely on it for "fine-tuning" in training. In particular, it used the data to improve the performance of specific skills, such as coding in languages like Python , Java, and Rush, as well as solving math problems.

Synthetic training could be particularly effective for smaller AI models. Microsoft last year said it gave OpenAI's models a diverse list of words that a typical 3- to 4-year-old would know and then asked it to generate short stories using that data. The resulting dataset was used to create a group of small but capable language models.

Synthetic data may help offer some effective "countertuning" to the biases produced by real-world data, too. In their 2021 paper, "On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots ," the former Google researchers Timnit Gebru , Margaret Mitchell, and others said that LLMs trained on massive datasets of text from the internet would likely reflect the data's biases.

In April, a group of Google DeepMind researchers published a paper championing the use of synthetic data to address problems around data scarcity and privacy concerns in training, saying that ensuring the accuracy and lack of bias in this AI-generated data "remains a critical challenge."

'Habsburg AI'

While the AI industry found some advantages in synthetic data, it faces serious issues it can't afford to ignore, such as fears synthetic data can wreck AI models.

In Meta's research paper on Llama 3.1 , the company said that training the 405 billion-parameter version of the latest model "on its own generated data is not helpful" and may even "degrade performance."

A study published in the journal Nature last month found that "indiscriminate use" of synthetic data in model training could cause "irreversible defects." The researchers called this phenomenon "model collapse" and said that the problem must be taken seriously "if we are to sustain the benefits of training from large-scale data scraped from the web."

Jathan Sadowski, a senior research fellow at Monash University, coined a term for this idea: Habsburg AI , in reference to the Austrian dynasty that some historians believe destroyed itself through inbreeding. Since coining the term , Sadowski told Business Insider he has felt validated by the research backing his assertion that models heavily trained on AI outputs could become mutated.

"The open question for researchers and companies building AI systems is, how much synthetic data is too much?" Sadowski said. "They need to find any possible solution to overcome the challenges of data scarcity for AI systems," he added, noting that some of the solutions may turn out to be short-term fixes that do more harm than good.

However, research published in April found that models trained on their own generated data didn't necessarily need to "collapse" if they were trained with both "real" and synthetic data. Now, some companies are betting on a future of "hybrid data," where synthetic data is generated by using some real data in an effort to stop the model from going off-piste.

Scale AI, which helps companies label and test data, said the company was exploring "the direction of hybrid data," using both synthetic and nonsynthetic data. (Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang recently said : "Hybrid data is the real future.")

In search of other solutions

AI may require new approaches, as simply jamming more data into models may only go so far.

A group of Google DeepMind researchers may have proved the merits of another approach in January when the company announced AlphaGeometry, an AI system that can solve geometry problems at an Olympiad level.

In a supplemental paper, the researchers said AlphaGeometry used a "neuro-symbolic" approach, which meshes the strengths of other AI approaches, landing somewhere between data-hungry deep-learning models and rule-based logical reasoning. IBM's research group said it saw it as "a pathway to achieve artificial general intelligence."

What's more, in the case of AlphaGeometry, it was pretrained on entirely synthetic data .

The neuro-symbolic field of AI is relatively young, and it remains to be seen whether it will propel AI forward.

Given the pressures companies such as OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft face in turning AI hype into profits, expect them to try every solution possible to solve the data crisis.

"We're still basically going to be stuck here unless we take new approaches altogether," Marcus said.

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