Will AI destroy critical thinking in K-12 schools?

Yes, of course it will unless humans miraculously change how they learn and retain info longterm. When will we get those digital memory aids and enhance our wet brain schema oriented brains? Not soon enough.

Artificial vs Human Intelligence.

AI has the potential, and may already be, eliminating entry-level jobs humans need to learn the basics of their work. It’s not a new concept and many others (some quoted in this blog) have said it already.

Driving this fact home with humans who haven’t engaged in a lifetime of beginner level tasks then slowly built up through productive struggle is ever more important. But it’s hard to give up easy when it’s so accessible in AI.

It will be a tough lesson for human beginners in any type of learning to appreciate and respect in their own efforts given the prevalence of AI.

I love this bare bones explanation via Janne Moren and Sye’s comment. Click Janne’s name to see it via Mastodon. Perhaps the only counterpoint is that a lot of companies don’t have a clue how to use AI well, due to its fluidity, so doing AI well gets some folks jobs and in the door.

But that type of experience only gets you so far, and your house is built on sand. Someone more knowledgeable with actual experience shows up, and that’s it for you. Better to struggle up front and learn as much as you can, as well as leverage AI at the right moments.

The Lesson

If you’re a student and you want to have a future paying career, this is for you:

When a beginner uses an #LLM – or asks a friend – to solve a problem, the answer is the end of the process. They lack the expertise to take it further.

When an expert uses an LLM – or asks a colleague, or checks the literature – the answers are a jumping-off point for further exploration. The final result is likely quite different from those initial answers. The LLM was the start of a process, not the end.

1/3

An LLM is just like a lecture, or a YouTube video, or a textbook, in that it can only tell you things. You don’t learn from passively being told about stuff. 

To actually learn something you need to actively do it yourself – try then fail, repeatedly – to build internal understanding of the system. You can’t learn to drive by watching videos; you have to actually spend time behind the wheel, trying things and failing.

The same goes for any skill, manual or intellectual.

2/3

If you apply for a job, and all you can do is ask an LLM how to do stuff, then you don’t add any value. A company can use the LLM just fine on their own. They don’t need you.

When would they need you? When you actually know your stuff. And the one time in your life you have all the free time to learn is when you’re a student.

If you piss away that time by using LLMs instead of doing it yourself, it’s hard to argue you don’t deserve what will happen to your career as a result.

3/3

@jannem
An LLM in the hands of an expert is like an intern, doing exactly as told by someone who knows the bigger picture. But only the intern can use that experience to become an expert themselves. Where will the next generation of experts come from if LLMs replace the interns? Via Sye Van Der Veen