Focus on nexuses of complexity: Education

Being human in the time of neuroscience and artificial intelligence involve carefully exploring the nexuses of complexity where valid ideas are nevertheless in tension, manifesting subtleties and challenges that must not be overlooked. Each page expresses the existing tension(s) between ideas and within each theme, which emerged in the collective discussions, and are then complemented by insights from NHNAI network researchers.

The participants evoked the advantages of using AI in education. First, AI can help us to be more productive and efficient, because some tasks are easier and faster to complete with AI (such as synthesis production and taking notes process for students, proofreading for teachers…). Moreover, AI and automation allows us to save time that could be used in other activities to exert our humanity, or to focus on other essential things like relationships (evoked in France and Portugal). Another point is AI can release ourselves from repetitive or uninteresting tasks, that allows us to focus on more profound tasks that need high intellectual activity and might be more interesting/stimulating. Automation can also be a mean to relieve teachers that are tired or when they have a health problem (temporarily) – or relieve them from tiring tasks (permanently).

However, participants are also worried about the risk of cognitive impoverishment and loss of autonomy with AI. Automation supposed to delegate/be dispossessed of a certain knowledge (a know-how) and to become machine-dependant, thus we are certainly losing autonomy when we are not able to realize a task without a machine or by ourselves. Moreover, by freeing ourselves from a task, we no longer call upon the cognitive capacities that enabled us to carry out this task, we no longer call upon the cerebral areas (like it is the case with the systematic use of GPS that impoverishes activity of cerebral areas associated to space orientation and memory) we need for this action/realization of the task. On top of that, certain cognitive faculties need practice to be developed (such as resolving a problem, creativity…), notably by trial-error as we are also learning from our mistakes, things that AI doesn’t make possible if we are always relying on it for the right answer. And finally, sometimes, even if certain tasks are uninteresting or of “lower level,” some of them are holding a lot of values (such as patience, maturity…) or they are important for the development of cognitive faculties.

Based on insights from Juan R. Vidal (associate professor in cognitive neuroscience (UCLy (Lyon Catholic University), UR CONFLUENCE : Sciences et Humanités (EA 1598), Lyon, France), Laura Di Rollo (research engineer in cognitive sciences for NHNAI project (UCLy (Lyon Catholic University), UR CONFLUENCE : Sciences et Humanités (EA 1598), Lyon, France) and Brian P. Green (professor in AI Ethics, Director of technology ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics (Santa Clara University, USA)

Although there could be several beneficial uses of AI in education that can enhance learning (e.g., using ChatGPT before an exam by answering questions about the lesson, providing initial ideas for starting a writing project…), it might be very tempting for students to generalize its use to as many as possible of their academic tasks. Technology such as AI makes some tasks easier and appeals to the principle of the “least effort” which, indeed, may be detrimental for cognitive development. This is particularly well illustrated by a study[1] that suggests that excessive use of generative AIs like chatGPT among students is likely to increase procrastination, memory loss, and impact academic results.[2]

Learning new (intellectual and practical) skills requires practice, and often repetition in order to increase the efficiency and quality of actions regarding their long-term goal. This repetition is not possible without making efforts and often facing frustration when not quite achieving our goal. If the use of technological devices and AI shortcuts these important learning steps, the individual will not acquiere the new capacities and knowledge, and will thus be empoverished. It is therefore important to evaluate the use of AI through this “effort-for-learning” lens, that should not be viewed as a waste of time, but rather as the time needed to learn-and-keep the knowledge (be it abstract or concrete know-how). Moreover, making efforts also conveys sense-making in learning, which is important for a person’s identity.

It is thus important to think of the use of technology and AI as a means to potentiate the learning of human capacities as such, and not only to maximize exclusively evaluation scores in the education system. We should use AI as a complementary tool that does not prevent to make cognitive efforts. For instance, AI could be used to help us remind of things we need to do, and not only to do it for us, thereby depriving us of experiences that enable us to grow and flourish.  AI could be used as a motivator instead of only/mainly as a facilitator of complex tasks (that are necessary for learning, especially long-term). It is our responsibility to encourage students to strike a balance between technological assistance and personal effort, in order to preserve learning and cognitive development, and to limit as far as possible the sources of distraction that technology can represent.

Indeed, understanding better how we learn and how we are influenced by our environment and our practices, fosters the view of a human being whose freedom to flourish depends on the capacity to control the interactions with all aspects of his environment, especially with technological devices that capture with very high efficiency our attention, depriving us of freely paying attention on what’s happening around us. Neuroscience has given us the means to know why we behave as we do. It gives ground to take action in order to avoid or domesticate interaction with mind-monopolizing artefacts. Neuroscience is also revealing that our brain does not really behave as a computer. The biological nature of the body and its nervous system constrains the type of functionalities it enables for behavior and mind. Neuroscience highlights for instance, in the perspective of sense-making, the crucial proactive engagement of the embodied nervous system in its environment.

[1] Abbas, M., Jam, F. A., & Khan, T. I. (2024). Is it harmful or helpful? Examining the causes and consequences of generative AI usage among university students. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 21(1), 10.

[2] However, this study not only highlights the causal relationship between excessive chatGPT use and cognitive impoverishment. It also shows the causal relationship between excessive use of chatGPT and time pressures and high workload levels. So it’s not just AI or technology alone that triggers cognitive impoverishment, but its inclusion in a socio-economic model that overvalues production and consumption, efficiency and speed.

The use of AI brings along with it the risk of deskilling. There are some sorts of skills that seems to be acceptable to lose, for example skills related to outdated technologies, etc., but there are other skills that seem intrinsic to our humanity, skills like those necessary for survival and living in society and understanding the truth. Exactly how we determine what skills to continue teaching and what skills we are all right with losing is a somewhat open question, but there do seem to be skills that we should not lose. For example, critical thinking skills – the skills of philosophy – seem to be particularly important.

With the challenges posed by the integration and overuse of AI in education, we may need to reinvent assignments and activities that cannot be easily solved by AI tools but instead require students to call upon their creativity and critical thinking. Moreover, valuing such activities could motivate students to engage more deeply with the learning process and be more willing to complete tasks on their own.[1]

However, many of the commenters around the world expressed concern that AI might harm our creativity, our critical thinking, our mental development, our social development and so on. These threats should be taken seriously, avoided if possible, and if they start coming true then halted quickly.

Nevertheless, education is also not purely about practical useful skills – it is also about enjoying the more abstract or theoretical aspects of life, pondering the deep mysteries and meanings of the universe. If AI can take away some of the drudgery of life and make us more able to enjoy higher pursuits, as well as other enjoyable human pursuits, then this could be a good outcome.

[1] Ibid.