So, like, tech peeps are all gaga over AI, right? They think it’s gonna change the world and all. But guess what? Two new studies, one from China and another from a top AI company, are like, “Hold up, there’s trouble ahead, folks.”
The first study, published in December 2024, was all about how Chinese students were using ChatGPT to help with their English writing. The researchers were all like, “Whoa, students are letting AI do all the heavy lifting in their brains.” They set up an experiment where students had to read stuff in English, write essays, and revise them. Some students got to use ChatGPT, while others had a human coach or a writing toolkit. And surprise, surprise, the ChatGPT group improved their essays the most, even more than the group with human teachers. But get this, they didn’t learn more or feel more motivated. The students who just got a checklist seemed to enjoy the task the most.
The second study, done by the AI company Anthropic, looked at how university students used their AI bot, Claude. They found that students were mostly using Claude to create things and analyze stuff, which are like, higher-order thinking skills. The researchers were all like, “Whoa, students might be relying too much on AI and not really learning.” They also noticed that students were asking for direct answers a lot and not really engaging in meaningful conversations with Claude. It’s like, are we really learning anything if we’re just asking AI for answers all the time?
At the end of the day, the researchers are like, “Yo, educators need to rethink how they assign work so students can’t just rely on AI to do everything for them.” Elizabeth Wardle, a writing expert, is all concerned about human creativity and learning. She’s worried that if we keep depending on AI for everything, we’ll forget how to think and learn for ourselves. And then what? Who’s gonna be the next big innovator if we’re just letting AI do all the work for us? It’s a real wake-up call for all of us, don’t you think?