In the summer of 2024, Youth for Empathetic AI organized a series of debates on different topics related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the TVFR Station 68 Fire Station Community Room. The debates included topics ranging from the use of AI in the U.S. military to incorporating AI into classrooms.

In the first debate, the topic was AI in the U.S. military. Some points presented for AI in the U.S. military were that AI can help reduce casualties in conflicts as well as reduce cost of the military. It was argued that because there are technologies developed for autonomous drones and vehicles, human soldiers need not physically put themselves in danger, but instead operate from safe distances through autonomous drones and vehicles that could complete the same tasks.. Additionally, AI can help in strategic planning. For example, given a large dataset about routes through dangerous territory, AI can help map out the most optimal route for safety and resource efficiency, which would mean it would allow for higher safety for U.S. soldiers, as well as help save money for the U.S. government. AI can also help to analyze the cost-effectiveness of implementing new technology within the military to help optimize budget allocation. Arguments against using AI in the U.S military primarily focused on legal issues. There have been multiple court cases from the past few decades that were presented, reinforcing a point that AI are prone to mistakes, and when they make mistakes, it costs lives, and it is unclear who will take the blame.

In the second debate, the topic was about incorporating AI into classrooms. In this debate, arguments for incorporating AI into classrooms focused on the ability of AI to help individualize learning and meet every student's need, and also allow teachers to prioritize students who are struggling. However, arguments against AI were centered around the idea that AI trained on human information inherently contains biases. Therefore AI will learn these biases and when they are incorporated into the classroom, they will reflect these biases to the students. It was also stated that learning from human teachers and AI teachers is a different process. For example, the learning outcomes are different, especially in a social sense where students have less social time with their teachers and their classmates.

Overall, the AI debates held at TVFR Station 68 Fire Station were enjoyable for both the debaters and the audience. It was intriguing to see the different arguments for and against AI in different applications as well how they were argued. YEAI plans to continue holding debates like these in the future.