Libby Adams ’27 writes op-ed for Greenville Journal about AI

In an op-ed published in Greenville Journal, Furman University senior Libby Adams wrote about AI and its potential human toll. Adams, a psychology and politics and international affairs double major, said as a high school student, she debated issues surrounding lethal autonomous weapons and AI. Having a brother in the military made the questions more personal and real for Adams. “They were questions about real people and whether life and death decisions should ever belong to an algorithm,” she wrote.

“AI’s benefits are real,” Adams conceded. “Students gain personalized learning regardless of background. Scientists accelerate medical breakthroughs. Law enforcement disrupts organized crime. Businesses grow more efficient. But like social media before it, AI is being adopted faster than society can understand or regulate it. The same systems that increase efficiency also spread misinformation, threaten privacy, reinforce bias, and concentrate power. Right now, these risks outweigh the benefits,” she added, urging that educating people about how their data is being used and setting up guardrails for the technology should be among the nation’s top policy priorities.

Adams’ piece was the winning entry in the annual StraightTalk student op-ed contest organized by The Riley Institute at Furman University. The prompt for this year’s entries was “take a position on whether AI is ultimately helping or harming humanity.” A member of the Greenville Journal staff was on the committee that reviewed the submissions. For more information, visit furman.edu/riley/student-opportunities/straighttalk-op-ed-contest.