In recent years, artificial intelligence has rapidly emerged into modern life, creating one of the most important philosophical and psychological debates of the 21st century. Nowadays, it is impossible not to notice how schoolchildren and university students use AI-driven tools to summarise readings, solve equations, write essays, research, and brainstorm in seconds. While many educators believe that excessive reliance on technology diminishes critical thinking and intellectual independence in students, others claim that AI is not making people less intelligent; it is simply changing our mode of thinking. Indeed, whether the use of AI makes people less intelligent or shifts the paradigm of learning should have considerable implications for educational strategies.
AI can impede students’ analytical abilities. For many years now, learning has been associated with hard work and thought, and the learning process requires considerable intellectual effort. The acquisition of analytical ability through activities such as studying difficult texts, solving mathematical problems manually, and reasoning independently played a big role here.
Nowadays, all these skills can be easily replaced by AI-driven tools that make learning more effective and easier. Using special services, students might generate several essay drafts in seconds, solve equations automatically, and obtain comprehensive summaries of research materials by providing certain prompts.
As psychologists say, such phenomena are referred to as cognitive offloading, the delegation of some mental processes to specialised devices. Indeed, throughout human history, people have created various tools that have made us smarter. Calculators allowed people to do away with mental arithmetic. GPS devices decreased the importance of geographical memory. Search engines enabled people to no longer have to memorise facts. AI might do even better since it not only retrieves information, but also reasons, writes, creates, and helps make decisions.
Nevertheless, when the convenience of AI replaces deep thinking, the danger of the new generation losing intellectual independence is obvious. Students could become very productive in a way by copying AI-generated answers without evaluation or critical thinking. Consequently, education could become less and less transformative.
However, basing only on threats arising from the emergence of the new paradigm for learning may be quite misleading. Throughout history, many inventions have altered the way we think, but none have ever ended our ability to use logic. The abundance of calculators does not mean that the ability to solve mathematical problems is lost. What is changing is the educational approach.
It seems like AI could cause a transformation, too. Since people could retrieve any needed information instantly, the true value of education could lie in the ability to interpret, evaluate, verify, and use information from intelligent systems. Hence, education based on artificial intelligence may facilitate the development of students’ metacognition skills – the ability to reason about their own thinking. Moreover, to obtain AI-generated answers, learners must first think deeply. By asking a question about a topic, they will need to define its scope, structure, possible angles, and other aspects. Such activities are very useful, which explains why the new learning paradigm requires advanced cognitive skills. It seems strange yet possible that artificial intelligence will make students think more deeply rather than limit their ability to memorise information. Since the former type of cognitive activity will play a more significant role soon, the value of the latter will inevitably.
The phenomenon known as ‘prompt literacy’ is also worth considering. As many experts state, the quality of AI-generated responses largely depends on the quality of human input, i.e., prompts provided to AI systems. The worse the prompts people use, the more primitive the results can be. Creating prompts that lead to correct, meaningful answers is a challenging task. One has to consider his/her objectives, structure one’s logic and thoughts in a particular way, identify crucial variables, etc. In many cases, writing good prompts is like solving problems analytically. Hence, students’ skills in prompting could help them succeed at work, since future jobs might involve working with, rather than competing against, artificial intelligence. Adaptability, curiosity, and other important qualities could be more advantageous than the ability to memorise information and pass tests.
The creativity of young people is also a burning issue in the age of intelligent machines. The common fear is that students would be able to write creative works, including essays and poetry, using artificial intelligence. In practice, however, people are unlikely to rely on machines much, since although AI-driven programmes can generate various texts, they lack emotional depth, wisdom, ethical sense, cultural knowledge, and empathy. In truth, some individuals would likely use artificial intelligence as a facilitator in creating artworks rather than resorting to plagiarism. By using programs such as Google Images, numerous painters have enhanced their skills. Consequently, artificial intelligence may not destroy creativity, but only change the approach towards creation. It seems important, however, to ensure that students retain their ability to be original creators rather than consumers of machine-made products. Thus, despite the potential advantages of AI, one should remember that intelligent machines might intensify the current problem – attention disorders.
Many scientists believe that artificial intelligence can make people less patient and less tolerant of complications in cognitive tasks. The possibility of receiving immediate answers may decrease students’ willingness to spend time reflecting on the matter or finding a solution themselves. Societies rely on educated members with strong critical thinking and reasoning skills.
The arrival of AI is also expected to bring significant changes in the role of teachers. Whereas earlier instructors served as sources of information for students, now they are becoming mentors and facilitators who help students learn to use the information they obtain. In addition, it is possible that, in the future, the focus of education will shift from memorisation to learning skills that machines cannot substitute for. They might include, for example, ethical reasoning, creativity, critical thinking, intellectual independence, and many others. The aim of education would change accordingly.
One of the most important misconceptions about artificial intelligence concerns the relationship between people and intelligent machines. While many experts are concerned that in the future we will compete with AI and lose, the key to survival and success lies in cooperation and collaboration. Machines excel in performing some tasks but fail at many others. Therefore, education should neither completely ignore nor blindly accept intelligent systems. Rather, it should strive to develop in students a kind of balanced intelligence, meaning that one must know when to use intelligent machines and when to rely solely on oneself.
Perhaps the greatest value of AI-driven education lies in fostering the skills necessary for students to become critical thinkers, creators, and independent learners. Intellectual growth involves many aspects that go far beyond memorising information from books. Uncertainty, frustration, and reflections may be even more important.
In conclusion, the debate over AI and cognition raises fundamental questions about the role and value of education. If viewed as the acquisition of information, machines seem dangerous. Nevertheless, if education is defined in terms of the development of wisdom, creativity, and critical thinking, then it is machines that are supposed to help with it.
The writer is a Professor and former chair, Journalism and Mass Communications, Savannah State University, Georgia, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
