AI Is Harming Student Development

The dumbing down of our educational system is being papered over by Artificial Intelligence (AI). With the advent of AI being introduced into our school systems, students today are entering the workforce without the ability to reason and formulate ideas. 

Andy Smarick recently wrote in National Review about the needless harm that has been caused to young people because educators often follow the latest fads that turn out to cause more harm than good. 

American school students have suffered through the fads of open classrooms, whole language reading instead of phonics, and chrome books and IPads in the classroom. These fads have led to students getting lost in open classrooms, unable to read at their grade level and addicted to tablets that hinder their interaction with others.

Reading a book is no longer necessary to succeed at school because AI can give you the summary of the book at the click of a button. Students no longer need to brainstorm for ideas or go through the process of drafting or redrafting papers. Developing arguments for class means simply clicking into Grok or OpenAI.

The business community is witnessing the impact that AI is having on recent college graduates. Many of these students are entering the workforce without the ability to think critically. These students offer very little to a business because they don’t have the experience of toughing it out through complex problems. These students have spent so much time texting that they have not developed the social skills of interacting with others.

Smarick points out that research has shown that the habitual use of AI decreases brain activity which can lead to a dependency on AI. If we allow this dependency on AI to continue in our schools, the effect in a decade could be enormously negative.

AI is one tool that can be used to help students in their development. If it becomes the primary tool used by students, our society will suffer.