Sr. Sidney Hogan watched in both awe and horror as Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump played Minecraft together. “How did I miss this?” She stared at the screen. Then she looked at the comments, and to her surprise, what she was watching was completely generated by artificial intelligence.

Rest assured that when new technology is developed, the internet will find a way to make memes out of it. Sure, it’s better than using this A.I. to mimic political figures and manipulate elections, but the creators of this software probably didn’t intend for it to create memes. Of course, creating memes and looking for comedy in all things is only human, but are people wasting the software’s potential?

This situation is not unique; ChatGPT is another example of how advanced technology may have been misused. ChatGPT is a unique brand of A.I. capable of answering complex questions with a human-like response. In addition, the answers provided by the algorithm are relatively correct and thorough.

This is an interesting innovation; A.I. being able to converse with humans in a human-like manner could lead to fully-functioning A.I. personnel. With this, scientists could develop virtual lab assistants capable of accessing the internet and providing insight. Think of Jarvis from Tony Stark’s lab in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with ChatGPT and A.I. capable of replicating voices, that simple concept character could be one step closer to reality.

However, instead of using the software to give A.I. the ability to provide insight, school students are using it to complete their homework. In fact, ChatGPT has become infamous for completing homework to the point where online developers have constructed counter algorithms with the purpose of detecting ChatGPT in student writing. When the software can’t be used for school essays, students will ask unusual questions for a good laugh.

Students aren’t the only ones finding creative ways to use the software; even a few video game designers have implemented this software into their game to give non-playable characters the ability to provide unique responses based on the user’s inputs. Normally, these characters would have a set response or dialogue, often repeating the same statement to the player.

With ChatGPT, these non-playable characters are able to give unique and relevant responses every time. This gives players the ability to talk to in-game characters and get an authentic response that is produced by ChatGPT. Even though this may still be a misuse of the technology, at least it’s not unused.

Snapchat has utilized similar technology and enhanced its performance, to the point where it can make relevant observations. This A.I. has many features similar to ChatGPT, but with a unique twist; if presented with a picture, this A.I. can make valid observations about the elements in the picture down to minute details, such as the color or traits of a blanket in the background. In the field of science, this technology could be very helpful.

Many scientists collect and analyze pictures to use them as data in order to prove their hypothesis. With Snapchat’s algorithm, scientists would not have to spend time processing data via photographs. Instead, scientists could run more tests, and supply the raw data to the A.I. in the form of photographs. From there, the A.I. could then make observations for the scientists, which in turn would greatly improve the efficiency of collecting and analyzing data. However, we don’t use this A.I. for scientific analysis. Instead, the A.I. is used on Snapchat to give users a virtual robot friend.

Each of these recently developed A.I. programs have made noticeable strides in technological advancement. Instead of being known for their opportunity of innovation, the world has instead decided to use the technology for other uses. Perhaps for now, these innovative programs are overlooked because they lack a better purpose in the world. Hopefully, as technology continues to become more advanced, these  A.I.  algorithms will have a better use.

Looking for amusement and comedic entertainment is part of being a human, but to what extent is it too much? The memes are great, but perhaps people need to start realizing the true potential of artificial intelligence.