Improvements in technology over the past few years have sparked a new industrial revolution driven by artificial intelligence(AI). AI has proven to be a highly profitable industry, and major tech companies have been scrambling to take their share and enhance their platforms for users. However, the issue at hand remains whether or not these tools’ pros outweigh their cons.
Microsoft is among the largest investors in the industry and has continued to show just how confident they are in this tech, with plans to invest billions of dollars more this year alone. Other giants like Nvidia, Apple, Google (Alphabet), Meta and Amazon have followed suit, hoping to reap the investment benefits in the long run.
Silicon Valley hasn’t been the only one in the race either, as recently released ChatGPT competitor DeepSeek saw nearly immediate success and popularity in the global market, disrupting stocks in the West and seeing vast implementation in many products and services throughout China.
Clearly, these billion-dollar companies see a future in AI, but how have regular people been affected by the revolution?
When looking for information on Google about this topic, you will instantly be greeted by the search engine’s new ‘AI Overview’ search result. This experimental AI summarizes online information into just a few sentences to reduce users’ reading time, making research much more concise.
This feature greatly represents what AI implementation is really doing–lessening the load on real people by making a robot do it instead.
AI has demonstrated tangible benefits to the world, and technology usage continues to rise. A 2025 global survey by Chegg revealed that 80% of students use generative AI to support their studies. While 69% claimed they wanted their curriculum to include training in AI tools relevant to their future career. Platforms like ChatGPT and DeepSeek can significantly enhance productivity, but it appears that their primary usage has been replacing the need for human thought and research entirely.
As technology improves, users are lessening their time thinking and working. A recent study by major AI investor Microsoft revealed that using AI tools can damage critical thinking and lead to long-term reliance on the technology. Just as with any new technology, its usage will have benefits and downsides.
In the present moment, it’s difficult to determine whether a society increasingly dependent on AI is for the better or worse. However, the more prevalent issue is the increasingly blurry distinction between what is real and what is generated.
Scammers have taken this opportunity to use AI for their benefit, utilizing deepfakes and online fraud for financial gains. A growing trend on TikTok is AI-generated influencers advertising products through misinformation and false claims. With deepfake and generative AI tools becoming smarter, it becomes much more difficult to determine if the people you are watching are actually real. Fake writing, videos and images are becoming easier to create as tools become more accessible, while social media allows the generated content to spread rapidly.
Lawmakers worldwide recognize the threat this technology creates, but the question remains whether they are moving fast enough.
There are also major concerns about user data being stored on these platforms. Recent findings from Surfshark revealed that 30% of popular AI chatbots track and share data with third parties. Google Gemini collected the most data, including location, contact information, user content, search history, browsing history and more. Copilot, ChatGPT, DeepSeek and others were shown to collect a lot of user data.
A significant concern regarding stored data is the possibility of it leaking due to a cyber attack on one of these platforms, which is exactly what happened to DeepSeek in January. The app was forced to limit registrations temporarily because of the attack, prompting the question of whether user data is safely stored on these platforms.
It’s extremely important to exercise caution online, now more than ever. When we are inundated with so much information daily, it can be hard to separate what is real from what isn’t. AI tools are here to stay, for better or worse, leaving it up to consumers to decide how best to utilize and engage with them.
As these corporations continue to invest in and evolve this technology, the average person is left to deal with the consequences. Don’t believe everything you see online, and fact-check information as much as humanly possible because AI certainly isn’t.
