Back in Feb 2023 when ChatGPT hype was at its peak, I was asked about what I thought about this thing called artificial intelligence. My immediate response was that this is the beginning of dumbification of humanity. As AI continues to make inroads into our lives, my opinion on this has gotten stronger over the last two years. Allow me to explain.
Before calculators and software came along, an average person could do other simple math that is required for daily living. The generation that grew up with GPS will not be able to read a paper map or memorize routes. Autocorrect software is diminishing our ability to spell better. AI translation tools will do away with the need to learn a new language. The list goes on.
As AI improves and weaves into our lives, we will end up trading our cognitive skills and knowledge retention for convenience. This overreliance on technology, without first developing the basic skills, will lead us into the trap of being a slave to the technology that was meant to liberate us. It has now become more important than ever that we first focus on developing basic life skills in our children, before infusing technology into their education. Or, two generations down the line we would have self-enslaved ourselves to AI and then complain that AI has taken over humanity.