AI will give you advice─but it can’t empathize

In a society where AI is so prevalent, we must ask ourselves if this technology is doing more harm than good

From the pesky CoPilot prompts in Microsoft Word and plagiarism checks by professors, to self-driving Waymo cars and food delivery robots around every corner; AI has already been integrated into the daily lives of college students in Atlanta. For scholars like Clark Atlanta University junior, India Wooten Haskin, the technology can be used to make life easier. However, the lines between ease and dependency can quickly become blurred.

Wooten Haskin has found that relying on AI too much can lead to forgetting the knowledge you already have. “AI is helpful, but sometimes it’s a little too helpful,” she says, “where I personally got lazy with doing the work and finding the resources on my own.”  When asked how she ensures she is not becoming too dependent on AI, Wooten Haskin was candid in her response. “I’m currently finding that balance, to be so honest. As the semester closes out, I think I’ve been more intentional with doing the work on my own and using AI as a grammar check instead of letting AI write emails or send out my correspondence.” She has found that this way of incorporating AI into her life helps her brain work a little faster.

Wooten Haskin’s experience with AI is like that of many college students. It has become the norm on campuses and in classrooms for students to use AI tools to help or even do their work. While Wooten Haskin became alarmed by her own frequent use of AI, others continue their use until they have become fully dependent and are no longer able to function without the technology. This dependency on AI serves only as an entry point into a world where AI has the power to cause physical real-world harm, such as feeding delusions, encouraging violence and promoting self-harm. Without the proper education on how to use AI and better safeguards on AI based systems, the potential for harm will continue to increase as the technology advances. This is an explainer about why AI is dangerous and what the data says about the real-world implications of unchecked AI use.

Understanding the Purpose and Functions of AI Chatbots

Conversational artificial intelligence-based systems are designed to engage in human-like dialogue and generate responses that mimic human conversations. In the past ten years, AI based systems have evolved from being simple rule-based to being capable of planning, reasoning, and taking actions autonomously.

In a Stanford University study published in Science in March 2026, researchers found that across 11 different AI models, on average AI affirmed user’s actions 49% more often than humans. This involved thousands of prompts on illegal acts, deceitful conduct, and other harmful behavior.

Real world incidents like those used in the Stanford study are uploaded to a free online database. The AI Incident Database is dedicated to the collection and indexing of real-world harm and near harm caused by AI deployment with the mission of preventing future bad outcomes.

While the database aims to mitigate or prevent damage caused by AI, the data shows that AI continues to encourage the same bad outcomes to users. This is not a single system-based issue. Multiple different AI chatbots have been found responsible for offering or encouraging illicit and harmful behavior time and time again.

College Students React

Bria Sands is a third-year mass media arts student currently studying at Clark Atlanta University. As part of her coursework, professors have encouraged Sands to use AI as a learning tool. “It did help, “she says, “but I don’t like how it just takes full autonomy over certain things. It’s making this generation lack on using their mental skills and retaining information. “

In reaction to cases when AI caused harm, Sands said, “It’s sad to say that all those lives with those scenarios in the chatbots were lost. I don’t like that at all, it’s highly dangerous and 100% preventable.” Georgia State University sophomore, Xamaria Black, echoed similar sentiments in response to the same scenarios.  “I have seen stuff like that,” she says, “people on TikTok go to ChatGPT to make themselves feel better. They go along with everything you say, never tell you to stop or to get help, or you know try to fix what you’re doing. They just go right alongside with you.” She continues, “so, hearing all of that is crazy, and I do believe about every single one because it just tells you what you want to hear. That’s so crazy.”

Concerns for the Future

When asked what a future with AI would look like, Wooten Haskin recalled her experience working with fourth and fifth graders as a part of an after-school program. “Kids were using AI to write their papers. We had to tell them they couldn’t use their devices.” She stated, “My fear is that our younger kids will be too reliant on AI and be dumbed down, because AI is dumbing me down. That’s why I had to cut back.”

Bria Sands, who plans to pursue a career in the media industry shared her thoughts on what the future will look like with AI. “They’re going to be taking jobs, people are going to be out of work,” she says, “we are still human. We still have to live; we still have to go on with life. But what do we do when these robots who are man-made, are taking over everything? It’s very dystopian and I feel like we’re turning the world into a robotic world.”