Is AI deskilling students?
a follow-up to "how students learn"
I’m following up on a topic from a few weeks ago (you can find it in the “Archive” section) on “how students learn”. The motivation for returning to this topic was a conversation I had about a month ago with a school leader who wondered about AI’s potential to “deskill” students. I’ve spent time thinking about three things: what skills or competencies are we in danger of losing, how the AI revolution will create winners and losers among students (and schools) who integrate AI topics and strategies into their curriculum, and how to navigate a middle ground of intentional AI use. Before jumping in, know that I gathered most of the material for this post with AI LLMs (Claude and ChatGPT). However, the writing style and the choice of what to emphasize is entirely mine. More on that below.
It’s easy to say that AI will impact student learning in ways that we don’t yet know; but the same was true with other changes in education: calculator use, phonics vs whole language, computers and use of the internet, standardized testing, flipped classrooms, online courses, (re)introduction of coding and cursive handwriting, even the move away from teacher-based to student-centred instruction (think “sage on the stage vs guide on the side”). In many of these areas school communities have found a middle ground: the use of both “mental math” (estimation, times tables, long division) and calculators, an appreciation for and use of phonics AND word recognition in reading, and a balance of student exploration and teacher talk in the classroom. That middle ground keeps us somewhat rooted in what has worked in the past and what is needed for our students’ future. I encourage you to read your school’s mission and vision statements, or your graduate profile, and see that much of what we want for students is independent of specific educational or technological choices. These statements should act as a “north star” or your organization, and while we need to make occasional course corrections, most of what we already have in place works quite well.
Teacher and school leaders are excited about AI use on a personal/professional level, and they are quite hesitant about AI use for their students. Many of their concerns are justified, and those concerns get at the heart of education - what is involved in learning, whether in 7th grade, college, or on the job? If AI really does short-circuit some of those processes, are we really preparing our students for the future? Take a look at this list, and add concerns of your own:
writing and language processing - if students become reliant on AI to write for them, will they lose the ability to structure an argument (or a sentence, or a paragraph, or an essay)? Will their vocabulary stagnate? What about their unique writing voice?
problem solving - the process of working (or struggling) through a problem builds mental stamina (or capacity, toughness, or grit), and using AI to solve problems removes the experiences of hitting a wall and finding a way over, under, around, or through that wall. The “eureka!” moments will become fewer and farther between if we adopt the “let’s google that!” mindset.
research and synthesis of information - will overreliance on AI lead students to accept whatever information or data “the machine” gives them? Will they still learn how to independently confirm that the information is correct, or will they accept the results without question? Will they still be able to spot patterns and draw conclusions without the use of AI?
critical analysis - will students lose the ability to evalute evidence, or to detect bias, or to see flaws in arguments if AI does the heavy lifting? What about questioning the assumptions of a position, or forming independent opinions on a topic?
memory and mental processing - will students lose the ability to remember deep foundational truths about life or education when they can just ask the AI? What about less important but (maybe) more immediate memory issues like multiplication tables, driving directions, or baking/cooking instructions? Will there still be a place for knowing the words to your country’s anthem, or recalling significant historical events, or knowing the rules for your favourite game/sport? Or will we just look up those deatils “as needed”?
My experience, both in education and in business, makes me think there will be winners and losers with AI, just as there was with other technological advances. I expect that there are three main paths for students (or schools/teachers/parents) to follow:
“just say no” - the belief that AI is just a passing fad, and it will not impact their lives. Traditional teaching and learning methods have worked for generations and there fundamental skills that might be lost with AI adoption in schools. authentic learning will disappear and cheating will be the order of the day.
“full steam ahead” - adopt AI use as early and as completely as possible, because that will mean success for the future. Familiarity with AI will give students advantages in the competitive marketplace, so we need to adopt new technologies early. Failure to jump on board the AI express will result in being left behind in the rapidly-changing world of new opportunities.
“cautious but critical engagement” - avoid using AI as a substitute for learning, but leverage the tools to make your learning better. AI should enhance, not replace learning, and students need to understand both the capabilities and limitations of any technological change. Students need to learn how to leverage AI in their work, but they also need to develop their own skills of analyzing, summarizing, writing, analogy-making, etc).
You can probably see where I’m heading with this: I think AI is here to stay, and I think the tools will only get better in the coming years. Many technology and education writers agree with this, and I’m sure many of you will concur. Think back over your lifetime (or perhaps the lifetime of your parents) and you will see that technological change is persistent, it creates new opportunities, it eliminates or replaces existing work, and although it happens constantly, there are inflection points where the world becomes a fundamentally different place. Although not directly related to this topic, I see this choice reflected in the current political discussions - do we long for the good old days when life was (or at least appeared) simpler and better, or do we look forward to the challenges of tomorrow and the new opportunites that will be available? But that’s a topic for another time!
So how do we navigate this middle ground of careful but intentional AI adoption in schools? How do you NOT LOSE SIGHT of the “north star” goals or statements in your organization or classroom? Here are several suggestions, to which you will want to add your own thoughts:
identify the skills that students should have when they leave your school and identify specific ways that students should demonstrate those skills. I would include the following: critical thinking, summarizing, analysis, writer’s voice, brainstorming, and analogy making. But there are more.
be intentional about teaching and assessing those skills, to reinforce the foundation that you, your colleagues, and your students are building. Be sure to assess those skills in a wide variety of situations.
introduce AI (or any technology, for that matter), not as a shortcut or workaround, but as another option (a tool, perhaps) for students to have at their disposal. Remind students that there are fundamental concepts that still need to be understood (even with calculators, you still need an understanding of the basic operations!)
explain things that AI does really well, and that might benefit students - brainstorming, summarizing, simplifying, etc, and that students will want to use to supplement their own work (without offloading everything to AI)
explain that there are problems that AI introduces - making things up, short circuiting your creative processes, eliminating critical thinking, removing your narrative voice, etc.
demonstrating the difference between using AI for subjects that we already have a good grasp on (ie: teacher knowledge of a topic) versus using AI for topics that we might be encountering for the first time (students learning new material). In one case, AI use fits into an existing framework of knowledge (it supplements what you already know), and in the other, AI might be replacing the work that is required to understand that framework.
be prescriptive AND proscriptive when starting with AI use in your classroom - you may use AI for this, but NOT for that. Balance AI use with skills that have already been taught in another form or place. Don’t just use AI for brainstorming or for editing; sometimes use it for the whole process, sometimes not at all, and sometimes for just one piece. That’s going to show students where AI is useful and where it sometimes gets in the way. Experiment, have fun, and keep track of where AI adds to learning and where it detracts.
redesign some of your assignments to allow for AI use, since students will be learning, living, and working in an AI world. It would be a disservice to shield them from all things AI once they reach a certain age - say 6th or 7th grade. Yes, the current AI that 7th graders use will look a lot different when they are adults, but the big picture ideas and concepts will look much the same.
plan for teacher inservice to gain familiarity with AI tools and to develop a coherent and consistent approach to AI use in your school. Perhaps certain staff or classes are the testing grounds for the current school year. Maybe you focus on the bigger picture of how AI might change education? There are lots of resources out there - many of which I have mentioned in earlier posts.
be critical, curious, daring, thoughtful, forgiving, and persistent in your learning and teaching about AI. No one gets it right the first time - certainly not the tech companies or your students - so you will need to experiment as well. However, you know more about the needs of your students than the tech companies or your students, so you are in an excellent position to set the agenda for AI use.
Change is never easy. I think back to my maternal grandfather, whose blacksmith business was a casualty of technological change. I think of the factory workers and miners whose jobs have been automated over the years. And there is a (very) small part of me that longs for the good old days. However, I also see the future, and that future sometimes looks like the Waymo autonomous taxis that I saw in San Francisco a week ago. It looks like “real-time updates” on Google Maps when I’m driving to an appointment in another city. It also looks like students having a personal assistant for all their learning and working needs, which is somewhat scary. Let’s commit to following our North Star, and to preparing students for the uncertain and challenging, but sure-to-be exciting, future.
That’s all for now,
Cheers,
-Rick