Is AI making us stupid?
I hate to say it and I don't want to sound pessimistic (but it's probably happening already :D)...
with all the conveniences we have, we are so fast and unfortunately also comfortable.
Have you noticed that when using Chat GPT or AI you don't even bother to think anymore?
So I use it to get information and I think I'm learning something, but I don't know if I'm really learning anything when AI does everything for me.
It's like a modern calculator that gives you the result without you understanding the processes and structures behind the calculations.
Is AI making us stupid? How do you approach using AI so that you still can learn and "use" your brain more actively?
IMO this will be a huge thing for the next generations and kids because if they rely too much on AI, they can become either geniuses or very lazy and illiterate people.
Replies
I feel like the way we teach our children will focus more on problem solving and create thinking, less about remembering a specific way of doing something. How we measure intelligence will evolve as we become used to using AI as a tool.
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@kalim_nixon I am not so sure whether school institutions especially public schools have been working on any plan. But if they do, good luck because our attention and attention of other generations is like 1 second :D
@busmark_w_nika I agree, our attention spans are decreasing. Perhaps we need to move around from the obsessive need for scrolling.
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@kalim_nixon I am too dystopian, so you probably know my answer :D
My take on this is actually 2-fold,
let me take you back to the BASIC times, ADA etc...
People strived to learn, they learnt, then came the modern programming languages. which imo were simpler than writing Assembly by yourself. It was basically to simplify stuff.
Now, people are still finding ways to still simplify the learning of programming languages and AI happens to be the tool around that. 2 years ago, one would develop a WebApp/mobile app without even knowing what's happening under the hood or the programming behind and it's working all with some well crafted Ai prompts. Now, Ai Agents are getting in the scene and wit basically one prompt, you are getting a fully engineered product.
Bottom line? we are always finding ways to make things simple. Does that take the cognitive ability out? Certainly yes, like how it did with the coming of new programming languages.
Yes Ai is basically killing people's minds slowly. People can't think anymore and they rely on AI to the nitty gritty on everything. Only those with a blend of basic understanding of say what they are doing, eg; particular programming language, are the ones that would engineer the projects very well. Seeing this everyday, someone doing very good posts on LinkedIn and failing to do the most basic thing in real life, talking about themselves or debating in real time on a particular topic. Pretty absurd
What a world we live in and what a time to be alive.
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@xebastian Such paradoxes, but you got it right. I do not know how to feel about that because I wanted to use AI for learning and ended up with a definitive result... so I didn't learn so much. :DDD
To combat this feeling, I like to ask how it arrived at its solution(s) and to source articles for me to read deeper into it. I also don't use it to write, but rather when I need a devil's advocate or structural suggestion. So in a way, I'm not using it to outsource my thinking, but rather as a second perspective to help ensure I'm framing my outputs in a way that makes sense for more than just myself. For students and young people, building strong reading, writing, and critical thinking skills first is key, as their starting points will shape/influence how they use AI.
Separately, I believe that there is a lot of "braindead" work that people spend hours on, which we can and should outsource to AI so that people can do the jobs we are hired for and interested in. For instance, with organizing internal documents— a team might take a day to fix messy infrastructure (and then there's the maintenance of it afterwards) but an AI could streamline this admin instantly, enabling people to focus on the work we’re actually hired for.
So I see the benefit of having useful AI tools in our work-kits, but I also believe that users should be using the tools as supports and not as replacements for you (the intention, creativity, perspective, and life that you bring to the team/space you're in)!
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@m1nn13 This is a good example. The thing is that we have quite a complex knowledge how we got things. Generations after us will only have the result. But yeah, maybe they will have more time to focus on more important problems.
Hmm... I have a different perspective on this.
When the internet first emerged, many believed it would provide all the information we needed, making thinking and studying unnecessary. However, reality proved otherwise—we still had to learn, and more importantly, develop critical thinking skills to filter and assess information.
The same applies to AI. Some assume AI will eliminate the need for human cognition, but AI still generates incorrect data. To harness its potential effectively, we must continue to think critically and refine our understanding
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@kay_arkain IMO, with the internet it would be possible to learn many things but let's take that we do not use our potential at 100%. We waste it and so we cannot come up with better results.
Shram
Hmm pretty much relatable to me. I’ve been feeling the same way.
Lately, I realized that I was letting AI do all the heavy lifting, and it was kind of taking over my thought process. So, I switched things up. Now, before I use GPT or any other tool, I spend at least 15 minutes with pen and paper, just brainstorming and letting my brain do its thing. Then, I tap into the AI for a fresh burst of ideas, and I go back to pen and paper to refine and finalize everything.
For me, it’s all about keeping that balance, using AI as a tool without letting it steal all my creative energy.
How are you managing to stay in control of your thought process while using AI?
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@whatshivamdo I usually use it only for checking the grammar, summarising the text or finding data. But I want to do my creative work on my own, because I like it. I want to use AI for chores I do not like.
Voquill
AI is super useful, but we can’t just turn off our brains. It’s great for productivity, but when it comes to decisions or anything that needs due diligence, we still need to stay engaged. It’s a tool, not a replacement for thinking. Just use it wisely.
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@henry_habib let's have a look how many people will do it :D
Sometimes, I feel the same way. It all depends on how we use AI. When I rely on it for things I can do myself, it feels like I’m not thinking at all. But when I use it for something I have no prior knowledge of, I actually learn from it.
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@dineshan_sithamparanathan Agree, I am trying to learn coding, it is good for explaining and also giving you the whole solution (and this part is not actually good because you only copy it)
That's right, but it's our choice. We mostly choose to do it because it's boring to do the same and simple stuff.
If it's taking away experience, it's probably bad. I talk to my friends about using AI to code, and one of the biggest issues I see from it is overly relying on it and no longer gaining experience thinking through a problem.
I disagree with @gabe 's library metaphor -- when you're at a library you're still reading a book at the end of it, and reading a (good) book is having an experience. It's gaining knowledge because you spent time with something and let it change you in a way that you participated in. One of AI's big dangers here is that it seems to make you believe you participated when really it is guiding you, especially if it is the one providing follow-up questions.
I think AI definitely can make us stupider, as people will want to offload "critical" thinking and pretend they learned something because they read it. Having a back and forth with AI that you are leading may still be using your brain, but these AIs--depending on the alignment of their creators--may be influencing your process or guiding you more than you realize.
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@gabe @benjamin_lampel AI is a double-edged sword. It can help in many ways but I think as a human kind we tend to slip and rely too much. And when we wake up, it can be late. (I am from the country where people tend to believe more conspiracies rather than science so you can imagine how easy they can be manipulated and totally be without critical thinking.) Then it is dangerous for the rest of society. And let's imagine using AI in a slightly "shady" way. It can affect people's knowledge, beliefs, decisions... Not good. :D I can see it now.
If someone is yelling and shouting at AI without taking the effort to make the prompt better, then yes, that person is becoming stupid.
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Love this explanation :DDD
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When you have a certain knowledge and uses AI, it is cool IMO, but when you are a kid relying completely on what "your wiser colleague says", it makes them quite incompetent and too dependable. Maybe I just do not like that feeling that thanks to AI, we can become more lazy, dependant and ?Maybe? stupid.