Photo by Ivan S., pexels.com
Artificial intelligence is everywhere. We all have our views about it. It has been integrated into social media platforms, art forms, and even schools. Some people argue that it’s improved everyday life in countless ways, even contributing to advances in the medical field. I took a look at some of the issues AI raises as well as some of its potential benefits, and polled fellow students to see what they’re thinking, too.
Threatening the Arts?
My generation has become familiar with the idea of “AI slop”: low-quality AI-made shorts, TikToks, and other miscellaneous social media posts. Some of the slop is fully AI, and sometimes it’s hard to tell whether a person in a video is real or unreal.
With this new way of creating entertainment, animation has become an art form at risk. AI-made trailers, short films, and more are adding to the threat. Traditional animation involves human insight, emotion, and precise timing — factors that some people agree AI can’t quite perfect. While AI may become an assistant in the animation field, replacing an animator fully is less likely.
AI in the Modeling World
But animation isn’t the only art form at risk. In the August 2025 issue of Vogue magazine, there was a two-page AI Guess campaign. The spread shows an AI-generated blonde woman in a Guess maxi dress and floral playsuit. I bought this magazine, probably one of the first magazines I ever bought. I was shocked, surprised, and confused when I saw the small print that says the model I was looking at was created by AI, and soon after found other reactions to the same pages on my phone. The images sparked backlash, including boycotts of the magazine and plenty of controversy with some people questioning the future of modeling.
Seraphinne Vallora, the company behind the advertisement, claims that Paul Marciano, the co-founder of Guess, requested an AI model. While some people are questioning the future of modeling, some are also wondering what this means for our already high beauty standard with this ad making it completely unattainable. Others wonder what it means for future modeling and models after years of a slow progression toward building a more diverse representation.
The AI Plague
Additionally, many people have heard someone say: “AI is taking over jobs.” But have you heard any of the specifics, the details, or the facts behind that? Rather than saying AI is stealing jobs, maybe it’s more accurate to say AI is automating parts of jobs, and even replacing or expected to replace full-time jobs.
Doing research about this, I found many different perspectives. Some people say it isn’t actually taking over jobs, or it’s not replacing jobs completely. Many people are against AI taking jobs, and many are for AI taking over certain jobs. The main recurring ideas I found are that many jobs are expected to change or reshape because of AI, and an AI apocalypse may be coming our way. In a February 2026 article in Harvard Business called “People Are Mostly OK with AI Taking Over Many Jobs—Up to a Point,” the author notes: “The public supports automating roughly 30% of jobs based on current AI capabilities, according to a survey of 2,357 people who were asked about 940 occupations.”
AI Entering the Healthcare Field
Switching to a more positive outlook on AI, it is already bringing some advancements in the medical field. Specifically, AI is now able to detect early signs of many diseases, including Alzheimer’s, kidney disease, some epilepsy brain lesions, schizophrenia, and more. According to a 2025 article in the World Economic Forum called “7 Ways AI Is Transforming Healthcare”: “Urgent care doctors miss broken bones in 10% of cases . . . and AI can spot more bone fractures than humans.” Also, x-ray technicians are beginning to be short staffed. Using AI technology could avoid both problems. And the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says that AI technology could reduce the necessity of follow-up appointments and is both safe and reliable. Still, the use of AI in healthcare remains a relentless concern for some people.
Insights from Future Adults
While some students openly use AI to cheat at school, others argue that it can be used ethically as a helpful tool. The divide between using AI at school in positive and negative ways is fairly blurred so I polled 21 high school freshmen, asking whether AI is used more for good than for harm in school. I also asked about students’ overall stance on AI – whether they view it positively, negatively, or neutrally. And I asked which aspects of AI they consider to be its best and worst features.
The results of the poll show that 76% of students believe AI is generally used negatively in school, while 24% see it being used in positive ways. Despite this, 66% of students polled had a neutral overall view of AI, 24% saw it as a negative, and only 10% viewed AI in a positive way.
When asked about AI’s benefits, 40% noted medical advancements as its greatest strength, another 40% noted study assistance, and 20% highlighted how AI helps in everyday life. On the other hand, 35% of students said job automation is AI’s worst aspect, another 25% said it’s using AI to cheat, 15% criticized its use in art, and 25% pointed to water waste and misuse (in data centers) as the most negative impact of AI.
Lessons Learned
Opinions about AI are very widespread. Some people talk about how AI is our future; others fully abstain from it. But the content I frequently see is either AI slop, or people expressing how we can’t let AI take over areas of life that we know to need human touch and insight, like animation and modeling.
I believe we should educate ourselves on topics like these by reading articles and reports rather than voicing our opinions without being informed. No matter your view about AI, I think that it’s also beneficial to learn multiple perspectives and outlooks, and that we should respect them.
Sasha Weintraub is a 9th grader at Nyack High School who likes writing, art, and music.