Last Friday, the Bellwood-Antis College in High School argument and rhetoric class hosted the annual schoolwide debates. All 5 debates presented in the auditorium centered around the theme of artificial intelligence.
These debates have been taken place in front of the student body since 2013 and are still going on till this day.
Students who participated in it this year were Vincent Cacciotti, Jake Mercer, Chance Shreier, Jordan Hescox, Katie Bianchini, Evalyna Aiken, Kimberly Bennett, Alexis Schratzmeier, Olivia Hess, Chloe Brown, Ava Kensinger, Gabe Waltermire, Julia Johnson, Janiyah Jackson, Morgan Kienzle, Annie Legrand, Abigail Eckenrod, Jacob Caracciolo, Corry Shanafelt, Allison Nycum, Alyssa Mills, Gabe Moser, and Jayden Bartlebaugh.
The first debate of the day was on whether countries should ban lethal autonomous weapons. The people who took part in it Jake Mercer, and Vincent Cacciotti on the pro side and Chance Schreier and Jordan Hescox on the con side.
The second debate was on if Neuralink is a benefit to humanity. The people who took part in that were Katie Bianchini, and Evalyna Aiken affirming the resolution and Kimberly Bennett and Alexis Schratzenmeier negating it.
The third one was on if AI will destroy humanity. Olivia Hess, Chloe Brown, and Ava Kensinger disagreed and Gabe Waltermire agreed.
The fourth debate was on if AI art is unethical and the people who argued for the negation were Annie Legrand, Abigail Eckenrod, and Jacob Caracciolo. Those arguing for the affirmative were Julia Johnson, Janiyah Jackson, and Morgan Kienzle.
The last debate was on if AI should replace government leaders. The people who took part in that were Corry Shanafelt, and Allison Nycum on the con side and Alyssa Mills and Gabe Moser on the pro side.
During 8th period, arguers participated in a panel discussion where students in the audience asked questions to the arguers.
“The topic of artificial intelligence and its implications for humanity comes up more and more in class and it’s and important issue to address. I thought this years class handled it brilliantly and showed great insight,” said CHS teacher Mr. Naylor. “They really have developed as debater. The audience was amazing too. All of the kids stayed engaged and asked excellent questions of the debaters.”
In April, one student from the CHS class will participate in a debate hosted at the University of Pittsburgh against students from other schools in Western PA offering the course.
You can link to a photo story of the schoolwide debates here.
