Why I hate ChatGPT

I was in my math class last week when I was put in groups to do a worksheet. Four seconds into the problem, a girl whips out her phone and takes a picture, uploading it to ChatGPT. I didn’t even read the problem, and she had started spewing answers. 

This is just one instance I can name that has happened in the past month regarding ChatGPT, and I can name a lot of similar situations I’ve been in since the tool has become popular. 

I have many problems with ChatGPT that don’t even touch on academic dishonesty and environmental concern, which is a problem within itself. So many of my problems regarding ChatGPT live in people's relationships with it. 

Here are three reasons why I hate ChatGPT and why you should stop using it. 

Discourages free thinking

Think for yourself! You don’t need a robot to tell you to make one decision or another. You don’t need a robot to answer every single question on your math homework. You don’t need a robot, period. 

Human creativity and the thoughts we bring to projects can’t be replicated by something non-human. Or more so, they can be replicated in theory, but it would be meaningless.  

The last thing we need in society is more ignorance. Heavy reliance on a machine for the answers and conclusions you can reach yourself just feeds it. 

Over-reliance and lack of independence

I know so many frequent ChatGPT users that I can barely count them. There is such a thing as everyday users, which is crazy to me. It is rare to look around a classroom and not see at least one computer on ChatGPT.

To see ChatGPT grow over the years is one thing, but to watch people’s relationships with the tool grow is another thing entirely. Just witnessing the change is disheartening, especially when it comes to people’s over-reliance on it. 

People don’t even attempt to solve a problem themselves before they turn to ChatGPT. When we rely on a machine to make choices for us, we are abandoning our independence and placing it in the hands of a machine that doesn’t fully understand us. Only we can make the best choices for ourselves, yet to make things easier, people are giving a robot the power.  

Relying on it for emotional support

Users don’t just use ChatGPT for help with their homework or test answers; sometimes, they go to it for personal reasons. 

Dating, life or loss, ChatGPT offers advice for all of it. It is never a bad thing to ask for advice or help, but turning to a robot who knows nothing about you instead of a friend or a family member lessens our connections and can give unhelpful answers. 

Emotional reliance on a robot is a step towards the future I don’t want to take. Our relationships and connections are what make us human; turning to a robot to mimic that threatens our humanity.

Some may call me old-fashioned in my disdain for ChatGPT, but I’m not denying all technological advances; just ones that do everything for us. 

There is nothing wrong with making things a bit easier for ourselves, but when we rely so heavily on a resource that discourages free thinking, there will be consequences. 

Next time you open your math assignment and reach for the ChatGPT app, maybe try a problem first to see what you're capable of. Maybe reach out to a friend for advice the next time you need it. It’s time to be more confident in yourself as well as those around you. Ditch ChatGPT and bring back free thinking and human relationships!