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Technical Crutches - good or bad or necessary evil?

dougw

When I started thinking about these 2 questions, I started noticing how insidiously these technologies are influencing our lives.

1) Will the internet kill human learning?

The vast information available on the Internet started out as a game changing resource to learn from. However, increasingly it has become a disincentive to learn. Why bother to learn it if you can just Google it? This has benefits and drawbacks which are debatable but to highlight one aspect, I want to ask this question:

  • Are you impressed when you come across someone who has actual knowledge rather than virtual knowledge?

I find myself surprised sometimes when somebody actually knows something that I wouldn't expect them to learn. Does this happen to you?

Do you find that the generations that grew up with the internet, are more dependent on it or use it differently from the older generations?

2) Will AI kill human thinking?

Productivity expectations are increasing to the the extent that use of generative AI is necessary just to get the job done on time.

  • Are you more impressed by someone who creates content without using generative AI, versus someone who uses AI all the time?

Do you think of generative AI as cheating? Or less valuable? Or generic frivolous Pablum? Or a boon to save time and effort?

The internet can be a disincentive to learn. Is this true?

Generative AI can be a disincentive to think. Is this true?

How many of you automatically ask ChatGPT these questions before formulating your own answer?

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  • 1) I think this debate came up with the written word (what, one doesn't memorize The Iliad and the Odyssey anymore?), the printing press, ... 

     We use technology to do things so our brains can specialize in other things.

    2) Again, the abacus, the slide rule, the calculator, the computer...

    These are Luddite concerns. One of the original research thrusts in AI was "autoprog" or automatic programming: 

    A.W. Biermann, "On the Inference of Turing Machines from Sample Computations, Artificial Intelligence, Volume 3, 1972.

    There will always be those who avoid thinking. I don't suspect that will be a common characteristic of success, other than in politics. (See "When I was a Lad" -- HMS Pinafore G&S).

  • in reply to bradfordmiller

    It is the motivation behind the reason for using anything that counts, in my opinion.

    Some will use tools like AI because they are lazy (the negative) while others will exploit tools like AI because they want to achieve breakthroughs (the positive). The hesitation to jump in is most likely motivated by not knowing the consequences of using it (there's no undo or reboot in the real world...).

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  • in reply to bradfordmiller

    It is the motivation behind the reason for using anything that counts, in my opinion.

    Some will use tools like AI because they are lazy (the negative) while others will exploit tools like AI because they want to achieve breakthroughs (the positive). The hesitation to jump in is most likely motivated by not knowing the consequences of using it (there's no undo or reboot in the real world...).

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