Artificial Intelligence has been increasingly seen as a threat in classrooms as teachers are afraid of students using AI programs to cheat. According to online plagiarism detector TurnItIn, “approximately 11 percent…[of student essays reviewed by turnitin] have at least 20 percent AI writing present, and approximately three percent…have at least 80 percent AI writing present.”
But academic integrity is not what we should be focusing on when it comes to AI in the classroom. Sure, it might be an interesting topic of conversation, but it’s not even close to the most pressing issue. According to the National Institute of Health there is a “potential deterioration of essential cognitive abilities resulting from an overreliance on AICs.”
Chatbots are replacing the need for us to think for ourselves in certain aspects, like school assignments and essays, which has a much more negative impact on our minds than most people want to admit. Without constant mental stimulation, our brains stop functioning as well as they need to for us to perform even basic tasks to the best of our ability. This impacts crucial “cognitive abilities” from memory capacity to attention spans to mental health.
Every aspect in our lives relates to our cognitive abilities in one way or the other. Household chores as simple as washing dishes can be made needlessly difficult. Our decision making is heavily influenced by technology, and as it advances that’s even more apparent. We are starting to let AI and the internet make decisions for us, accelerating our seemingly inevitable cognitive dysfunction.
Reliance on AI detracts from the important processes that develop and maintain some basic functions, including comprehension and communication. The implementation of AI could mean future generations won’t know how to think critically, problem solve, or be creative.
AI programs and the internet in general is just a big pool of information. It’s us humans that connect bits and pieces of this information to create ideas, theories, and beliefs. And these ideas, theories, and beliefs advance technology and help keep the balance of familiarity and novelty in our society.
Thinking on our feet allows us to come up with witty jokes on the spot, make split second decisions, brainstorm effectively, and go with the flow among many other important functions. Each of these aspects directly relate to a personality trait: humor, decisiveness, creativity, and adaptability. Our own unique combination of these characteristics make up who we are as individuals. No variance means no differences, which would make our world so much more boring and infuriating.
Critical thinking and our ability to think for ourselves is what makes us human. Without it, we might as well let robots run the world.
