If AI Does the Work, Who Does the Learning?
A college newspaper column argues that students using AI to summarize readings, write code, and draft essays can produce strong work without actually learning the underlying skills.
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Society · Wire
Colleges grapple with AI use in the STEM classroom amid uncertain impactsCollege STEM educators are testing generative AI as a learning aid while trying to limit possible harm to students' critical thinking, with long-term effects still unclear.
Human take
AI is an amazing learning tool. It also just gives you the answer, and humans are wired to take paths of least resistance. At scale in practice, humans will simply turn off the brain and use the tool. Over time, do we get smarter?
Society · Wire
AI fuels cheating concerns in schools, mistrust between teachers, studentsA Harvard Center for Digital Thriving report finds AI is fueling cheating concerns and mistrust between teachers and students, with students feeling pressure to use it to keep up.
Human take
You cannot escape AI. This is capitalism, where competition is the bedrock, and AI is too good to not use.
Society · Wire
70% of teens admit to using AI for schoolwork — as test scores plunge: ‘It slowed my thinking down’A survey reports 70% of teens use AI for schoolwork, many just to get answers, as test scores fall, raising questions about AI's effect on learning and thinking.
Work · Wire
AI is removing rungs from the corporate career ladder | TechTargetAn analysis argues AI is absorbing junior-level work, pushing employers to rethink how workers gain the experience and judgment needed to reach senior positions.
Human take
If AI is a genius coder, and it is, then why would you even learn to code? Why would you have junior developers and senior developers? They are close to the same now — AI has flattened the skill.
Work · Wire
Will AI leave us in charge of our own work?Economics Observatory examines whether AI adoption will preserve or erode workers' control over how they do their jobs, a question central to job quality.
Human take
Most will be a meat proxy. Better question: Will AI leave us in charge of our own world?
Work · Wire
AI is being taught how to do your job. Will AI replace us, or just change the way we work?60 Minutes reports on the growing industry of experts training AI to perform skilled jobs, raising questions about whether these systems will replace workers or reshape their roles.
Human take
Human labor is expensive. That's the capitalistic incentive to replace humans with AI. It's just math.
Society · Wire
AI is eroding office hours, study groups, and the trust between faculty and students, MIT report findsAn MIT committee reports AI is weakening office hours, study groups, undergraduate research, and faculty-student trust, and calls for an overhaul of higher education.
Work · Wire
AI Benefits at Work Unevenly DistributedA Gallup survey finds U.S. workers using AI report speed and creativity gains, but those users tend to already hold quality jobs, suggesting AI may widen workplace inequality.