by Barry A. Liebling
I recently attended a university-sponsored symposium where the subject was AI (artificial intelligence). Key topics under discussion were when you can trust it, when your should check its work, and how you should employ it. The obvious answers are never completely, the more important the task the more you must check, and you should employ it carefully.
One of the professors expressed his concern that many students who use AI rely on it to do their work, delegate judgment to an AI agent, and fail to develop their own skills of critical thinking. He was worried that AI is making people stupid, and he asked the invited speaker what could be done to assure that students become smarter – not dumber – in the emerging age of AI.
Pull back and consider how people become competent in any endeavor. Step one is having the desire to get good at doing something. Accomplished athletes – without exception – want to excel in their physical activities. The desire to perform well is a necessary condition. But it is not sufficient. Someone might want to be an exceptional athlete but fail to get into a productive training regimen. There are many training methods that are likely to enhance athletic performance, and countless routines that are a waste of time.
But note, without the desire to get good at a sport, a person is not going to excel.
Now apply that same principle to intellectual development. Students who become smarter, more mentally adroit over time, invariably want to improve themselves. Some students really care about enhancing their ability to think effectively. Certainly they vary in how good they get at being smart, but nobody becomes smarter unless there is a genuine desire.
And, as with athletic ability, success at becoming astute depends on proper training. Wanting to be sharp is necessary, but everyone needs to use methods that actually work.
I have been teaching at a graduate school of business for many years. And it is apparent to me that some students try really hard to develop their intellectual capabilities. And there are other students that want to get by but are not particularly interested in becoming skillful thinkers. The ambitious group generally does quite well. They exert effort and usually (not always) experience marked improvement. Those students who are not intent on becoming good at critical thinking do not become good.
What is the proportion of students who want to become smarter? It is highly variable. Any student can decide that developing intelligence is important and act accordingly. But there is no shortage of students (and people in general) who have only a modest or negligible desire to improve their minds.
Go back to the use of AI in the university setting. In my courses I stress that AI is a tool that can help your development if you use it correctly. And, like any tool, it can be abused. My best students take control and supervise AI. They use their good sense to define exactly what must be done and give highly specific orders to their AI engine. They are definitely getting smarter, largely because they are determined to do so. Other student surrender to AI, passively accept whatever output they are given, and submit work that is obviously the product of a non-human non-conscious machine. They assume, correctly, that they can get through the course with minimal effort and have AI do their assignments.
So the answer to the professor who wanted to know how we can assure that students who use AI will develop critical thinking skills is – we cannot. If a student does not have the desire, the student will not get smarter. The widely stated cliche that AI is making people dumb is not true. Instead, stupid people often use AI and remain dunces.
At the university level what should the policy be to encourage students to develop their minds? Teachers should explain why becoming smarter is a virtue and why every individual should work on intellectual advancement. Some students who were not already convinced will take the good advice. But there will always be pupils who have no aversion to being perpetual dullards. Let’s hope that more students embrace the vital habit of self-improvement.
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