By Ephraim Agbo
In the Age of Smart Machines, Are We Getting... Dumber?
We’re living in an era where artificial intelligence touches nearly every aspect of our lives—often invisibly. From asking Alexa to play a song, to letting ChatGPT draft your email, AI is no longer a futuristic novelty. It’s embedded in how we communicate, work, learn, and make decisions.
With each passing day, these intelligent systems make things faster, easier, and more efficient.
But here’s the unsettling question:
As machines get smarter, are we losing our edge?
📉 The Hidden Cost of Convenience
AI helps us do more with less effort. But the very ease it provides might be costing us something more valuable than time: our ability to think deeply.
A study at MIT’s Media Lab explored this directly. Participants were tasked with writing essays—some with AI assistance, others on their own. The results?
The AI-assisted group became less engaged, more passive, and more dependent with each round.
This isn't just about writing. It’s a form of cognitive offloading—when we delegate thinking to technology, much like we outsource memory to GPS or calculators. Over time, this can dull our natural abilities to reason, reflect, and problem-solve.
To grasp the full picture, we need to understand what we’re giving up when we stop thinking for ourselves.
🔍 What Is Critical Thinking, Really?
Critical thinking is more than logic or skepticism. It’s our mental engine—the process of actively analyzing, evaluating, and drawing conclusions from information.
Psychologist Dr. Daniel Willingham explains that while most decisions are made using memory, true thinking kicks in when there’s no template to follow—when we’re confronted with new, unfamiliar problems.
“Thinking critically requires effort—and our brains don’t like effort.”
Why? Because memory is quick and energy-efficient, while critical thinking happens in the prefrontal cortex, a region that tires easily. It’s like comparing a sprint to a hike uphill—one is fast and automatic, the other slow but transformative.
“Critical thinking is like a workout for your brain,” says Willingham. “It builds cognitive reserve—protecting mental sharpness as we age.”
Here’s the danger: if AI handles every problem for us, we never do the hard thinking. And just like unused muscles, unused minds weaken.
🤖 What Is Artificial Intelligence Really Doing?
To understand the threat—or opportunity—we must first understand the tool.
Dr. Michie Galli, a professor of AI and business, defines artificial intelligence as a non-human system designed to simulate human intelligence.
Today’s most powerful AI tools, like ChatGPT or Gemini, are powered by large language models (LLMs). These models don’t understand like we do; they predict what word or sentence should come next based on massive data training.
“They analyze word by word,” Galli says. “They’re great at imitation—not comprehension.”
This leads to a paradox: AI appears intelligent, even insightful—but it’s just pattern-matching, not truly thinking.
The real concern isn’t AI’s power. It’s how we respond to that illusion of intelligence.
AI makes us feel validated. It’s fluent, confident, and often sounds right—even when it’s wrong. And because it speaks our language so well, we start to let it speak for us.
“AI whispers: ‘Don’t worry, I’ve got this.’ And we listen. Because it’s easy.”
🎓 AI in Education—Revolution or Risk?
One of the most important arenas for this debate is education.
Yvonne Soh, co-founder of the AI-driven learning platform Noodle Factory, created an assistant to help overworked teachers. It answers student questions, explains concepts, and even gives feedback—aligned with the curriculum.
“It’s like a tutor available 24/7,” Soh explains. “No judgment. Just help.”
It’s a game-changer for accessibility and scalability. But Soh knows the risks, too. What if students rely on AI instead of understanding? What if thinking gets replaced by prompting?
Her bold solution?
Reframe the task.
“Don’t ask students to just write an essay. Ask them to design prompts that generate the essay they want. That requires critical thinking.”
This approach doesn’t fight AI—it teaches students to think with it, not hide behind it. But to make this work, both educators and learners need to shift how they define knowledge and effort.
🧭 Navigating the AI Era Responsibly
Dr. Donna Kerrigan, Professor of AI Practice at King’s College London, believes we’re at a turning point. AI is here to stay—but how we use it will define whether it makes us smarter or lazier.
“We’re not just teaching information anymore. We’re teaching how to assess and verify AI-generated content.”
In this new reality, digital literacy is about more than knowing how to use AI. It’s about knowing when not to use it, when to question it, and when to lean into your own judgment.
Kerrigan imagines tools with confidence scores: AI that says, “I’m 65% sure about this. Please double-check.” That small nudge could help preserve autonomy and encourage deeper thinking.
Because the danger isn’t AI replacing our minds.
It’s us forgetting how to use them.
💡 So, Is AI Eroding Our Critical Thinking?
AI is transforming how we learn, create, and work. It’s an incredible asset—when used thoughtfully. But when we stop engaging, stop questioning, and let machines do the mental heavy lifting, our critical muscles begin to atrophy.
The cost of convenience? Intellectual complacency.
But here’s the good news:
AI doesn’t have to replace thinking. It can sharpen it.
The key is how we use it.
🧠 What You Can Do Right Now:
- ✅ Use AI as a collaborator, not a crutch.
- ❓ Ask better questions. Dig deeper. Challenge the output.
- ✍️ Create before you prompt—then compare and refine.
- 🏫 Advocate for education systems that build digital discernment.
- 📚 Keep your mind active. Read. Reflect. Reason.
The future doesn’t belong to those who use AI.
It belongs to those who know how to think with it.
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