THE DEATH OF ORIGINAL THOUGHT? HOW AI INFLUENCES THE THOUGHTS OF STUDENTS
THE DEATH OF ORIGINAL THOUGHT? HOW AI INFLUENCES THE THOUGHTS OF STUDENTS
Have you ever run out of thoughts? For instance, your teacher asked you to write an article with topic of your choice. But instead of starting to draft your idea, you went straight to a search engine to look for a free AI writing tool that can help you generate an article without sweat. As society progresses, so does technology. People will look for ways on how they can do things easier, why spend a lot of time doing something if someone can do it for you in just a blink of the eye? We cannot really deny that AI writing tools are really helpful for the students; it can generate sentences, paragraphs, essays, and more. Instead of trying to think creatively, they will start to construct a prompt. This raises the question, are we using AI to enhance our thinking, or are we letting it replace our ability to think critically and creatively?
Technology is being integrated in school’s curricula worldwide. By utilizing it properly, students can excel in their studies, master new skills, and finish tasks before their due dates. That is why, it is tempting for students to use it. They can save a lot of time, then use it for their other activities. Unlike the situation without using it, it will take time to do research about the specific topic or to become knowledgeable about it. But, this kind of practice where a student does not rely on an AI writing tool is a good practice, that hones their critical thinking. Critical thinking is the objective analysis and evaluation of facts, evidence, and arguments to form a decision, rather than just accepting a fact, they will try to come up with one decision to support their claims. This skill is not practiced when students will just go directly to AI writing tools. If all the students skip critical thinking and use the same prompts without integrating their ideas, everyone’s work will sound identical to each other without originality like stripping away their personality.
Do not stop using AI writing tools, just learn how to utilize it properly. Over-reliance on the use of it will definitely kill the creative version of the people. It limits their ability to think creatively since they will just keep on writing prompt instead of thinking beyond. I mean, yes, technology was created because of the creative mind of people, but it can be the reason of why some become too lazy to think outside the box. People encourage the use of it, but we should still have original thoughts and ideas regarding the topic that we are writing about. Students can utilize it properly by using it to gather some ideas. It can be used as your brainstorming partner, not a ghostwriter. Always try to draft your own ideas first before consulting AI for more. In the end, AI writing tools can generate millions of words, but it can never replace the experience that makes your writing truly yours. So, do you think this output is written by me only, with AI writing tools, or a mix of both?
Jenny Shin
