AI Will Do More Harm Than Good: Essay (Band 9)
Band-9 agree/disagree essay on whether artificial intelligence will do more harm than good, with criteria breakdown and tech vocabulary.
Artificial intelligence will do more harm than good to society. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Band-9 sample essay
I disagree: AI will deliver net benefit, though the harms are real and demand governance. The technology amplifies human capability far more than it threatens it — provided societies steer it deliberately rather than drifting.
The benefits compound across domains. In medicine, diagnostic models detect cancers earlier than specialists; in science, protein-folding breakthroughs compressed decades of research into months. For ordinary people, translation, tutoring, and automation extend expertise once reserved for elites. Historically, every general-purpose technology — electricity, computing — followed this pattern: disruption, adaptation, then broad prosperity. AI's trajectory rhymes.
The harms, however, are not hypothetical. Labor displacement will strand workers faster than retraining absorbs them; synthetic media corrodes shared truth; and concentrated AI power risks entrenching the already powerful. These dangers share a root cause: deployment outpacing institutions. The printing press similarly destabilized societies before literacy and law caught up — the gap, not the technology, caused the pain.
The verdict therefore hinges on governance, not the tool. Regulate high-stakes uses, fund transition support, mandate transparency for synthetic content — and the balance tilts decisively positive. Technology is never destiny; it is a wager societies place on themselves. AI deserves cautious embrace, not fear or worship, because its ledger will record what we chose, not what it forced.
(255 words)
Why this scores Band 9
Task Response (9): Firm disagreement with honest harm acknowledgment — the strongest persuasive shape. Historical parallels (electricity, printing press) elevate the argument beyond opinion into reasoning.
Coherence & Cohesion (9): Benefits, harms, synthesis — each paragraph earns the next. The printing-press parallel bridges harms to governance elegantly.
Lexical Resource (9): Tech-governance precision: "general-purpose technology," "synthetic media," "entrenching," "deployment outpacing institutions," "high-stakes uses." Sophisticated yet natural.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy (9): Semicolon-linked contrasts, concessive structures, parallel phrasing ("fear or worship," "chose, not forced"). Flawless control.
Vocabulary to steal
- amplifies capability — extends power (precise verb)
- steer deliberately vs drift — governance contrast
- corrodes shared truth — erosion metaphor
- entrenching the powerful — deepening advantage (strong verb)
- hinges on governance — depends decisively
- ledger will record — accounting metaphor close
FAQs
How do I write about fast-changing tech topics?
Anchor in principles, not headlines. Displacement, concentration of power, and human judgment are evergreen angles that survive any news cycle.
Should I mention specific AI products?
Sparingly. Named examples date quickly and invite factual errors. Describe capabilities in general terms unless you are certain.
How do I avoid sounding extreme?
Quantify and qualify: some jobs, certain risks, likely outcomes. Measured language is itself a Band-9 signal.
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