The history of human civilisation is a record of intellectual struggles. Whether in the ancient philosophical arguments of the Greeks or the scientific revolutions of modernity, deep learning never occurred through instant access to knowledge. Intellectual struggle, contemplation, challenging assumptions, failing, and making discoveries were all part of learning and developing wisdom and understanding. Traditional higher education has always been known for cultivating understanding and wisdom, not merely for providing information. However, higher education finds itself at a significant crossroads today in the era of artificial intelligence. The question of deep learning has become even more relevant as higher education changes rapidly.
The emergence of various forms of generative AI, including ChatGPT developed by OpenAI, represents one of the greatest technological advances to education, creativity, accessibility, and productivity ever known to humanity. On the other hand, educators have a real concern that students are moving away from deep learning towards instant answers generated by artificial intelligence. The conflict between intellectual rigour and technological convenience may soon become one of the major educational issues of the 21st century.
Traditionally, deep learning did not mean just getting the correct answer. Education involves developing one’s ability to reason, analyse presented data, formulate sound conclusions, explain and defend a position, think outside the box, and creatively find solutions to problems. Engaging in deep learning strengthened analytical reasoning, creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and overall cognitive development.
Artificial intelligence dramatically transforms the dynamics of learning. Instead of analysing text for hours, writing an essay by hand, solving a math problem step by step, conducting a thorough literature review, etc., students can now do all of this almost instantly with AI’s assistance. The educational process is becoming more like retrieving pre-made knowledge instead of the intellectual work of acquiring and processing new information and concepts. The problem with such an approach to education and learning may be even deeper than the ethical one of cheating. Students themselves may stop perceiving the educational process as valuable, as their primary focus becomes completing the assignment as efficiently as possible, not necessarily comprehending the material. If answers can be received instantly, there would be no sense in spending weeks and months learning and analysing various concepts.
The theory states that cognitive psychologists believe desirable difficulties can help learners learn by improving their cognitive abilities. The act of writing essays repeatedly, solving mathematical equations manually, and reading many scholarly works is not just an educational process but also an essential part of intellectual growth. All these processes may be taken away from learners by the AI system. This issue is already being noticed in practice. Many teachers claim that their students increasingly rely on AI to provide a summary of the book rather than read it in full, or to write their essays rather than work on these assignments. While the results may look impressive, the actual work of learning is missing here.
There is a high likelihood of the development of poor intellectual culture among university graduates through this means. Traditionally, centres of learning have been responsible for disseminating knowledge and promoting critical thinking and independent thought among their learners. The emergence of the information era in the wake of AI is expected to degrade such intellectual values. One should not ignore the effects that contemporary digital culture has on students. Students spend considerable time scrolling through their social media feeds, watching YouTube videos, and using various online apps for instant messaging. Thus, integrating artificial intelligence into the learning process becomes effortless.
However, the proper way to address the challenge is not to ban the technology but to adapt to it. Artificial intelligence is already changing numerous industries, including business, health care, science, journalism, and other professional spheres. Universities are supposed to prepare their students for their future work and thus cannot simply ignore AI technology. It means that professors must change the traditional way of assigning and designing learning activities so that they involve more complex intellectual tasks than mere knowledge retrieval. Discussion, debate, and other collaborative processes could be helpful here.
Faculty members are becoming more relevant than before, as professors are no longer the primary source of information students receive. With so many reliable and convenient digital sources of information, students are less likely to rely on the professor for information. However, teachers remain crucial as guides in learning. Discussion-based classes, projects, case studies, simulations, and other applied learning techniques can be very beneficial for encouraging intellectual activity and preventing students’ dependence on machine-generated content. Teachers also need to educate their students regarding the capabilities and limits of generative AI.
It is important to emphasise that AI can also benefit the learning process in some ways. Using AI to brainstorm, clarify complex concepts, improve writing skills, and organise your research or find relevant papers can facilitate learning significantly. However, students also need to know the difference between the outputs of artificial intelligence and deep learning, and how to evaluate the former. Furthermore, AI can play an important role in improving accessibility to college for disabled students. In general, the right approach should ensure that students know how to use AI to advance intellectually. There is a need for universities to develop rules governing the proper use of AI and its ethical considerations.
In conclusion, artificial intelligence will become the central feature of the modern educational system, whether we want it or not. However, the key question is whether integrating AI will preserve universities’ and colleges’ intellectual culture and integrity or destroy them. For education to remain valuable in the era of technological advancements, it must promote intellectual rigour and critical thinking.
This issue becomes particularly relevant because the central question facing the educational sector is philosophical. Society needs to choose the goal of education and decide whether deep learning is valuable. As philosopher John Dewey stated, “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”
The writer is a Professor and former chair, Journalism and Mass Communications, Savannah State University, Georgia, USA. E-mail: sibhuiyan@yahoo.com
