AI and keeping the power of the human mind

By  Harun M. Hassan

Public Service Commission

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6 min

Recently, global artificial intelligence (AI) executives raised the alarm that AI advancement without oversight could pose an existential risk to mankind, and that exercising caution and introducing safeguards should be treated as a global priority.

 In the education sector, we are currently in an era in which AI is rapidly changing learners’ experiences, from lecture halls and everyday academic work. From generating essays and school assignments within seconds, there are growing concerns that excessive reliance on AI could stifle creativity, innovation and independent thinking among learners.

As AI capabilities continue to advance at a rapid pace, concerns are raised about the place of human intellect and originality. In July, Dr Jason Gibson, a history professor at Alcorn State University, USA, went viral on social media after deploying a clever trick to identify if his students would use AI to complete an assignment about the industrial revolution. In the task, he added a white-coloured text on a white background invisible to the eye, containing an instruction to an AI system to include the word ‘Madagascar’ somewhere in the response in a way that made no sense.

 To his surprise, 32 out of 35 students failed the test, after apparently copy-pasting the assignment into an AI system and submitting their work without even proofreading. In an interview, he said that while he encourages students to use AI, he calls upon them to do so ethically, and not to completely generate assignments.

In our time, we learnt the old way: reading materials, visiting libraries and group works to deliver on assignments. We would sometimes stay late into the night on campus, reviewing content and preparing presentations. Those days are gone, and an assignment a student would undertake for days now takes barely minutes to generate and submit for assessment.

Critical thinkers

This development has made people jokingly question how they succeeded in school before the advent of AI! And while AI has brought immense benefits to our education systems, including faster research turnaround and availability of educational content and materials that could perhaps be out of reach for many, new research is raising the alarm that dependence on AI in academic work also poses a risk to students’ ability to learn and be creative and critical thinkers.

A 2025 study, ‘Does ChatGPT enhance student learning: A systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental studies’, in the journal Computers and Education analysed 69 experimental studies published between 2022 and 2024. It found that despite ChatGPT improving the academic performance of students, its use was also associated with reduced mental effort.

Another 2025 study, ‘ChatGPT as a cognitive crunch: Evidence from a randomised controlled trial on knowledge retention’, in the journal Social Sciences & Humanities Open analysed retention of knowledge among 120 undergraduate students. The students were grouped into two: one using ChatGPT as a study-aid and the other used traditional non-AI study methods. They were subjected to a surprise test after 45 days of learning to measure their knowledge retention. Students who used ChatGPT scored 57.5 per cent, while those who studied without AI-assistance scored 68.5 per cent. The findings showed that unrestricted ChatGPT use impaired long-term knowledge retention, reducing the mental effort that supports lasting memory. “The ease of obtaining instant, comprehensive answers from ChatGPT could be creating a generation that remembers where to find information rather than the information itself,” the study notes.

The ripple effect of this academic environment may extend into the workplace, where employees become overly reliant on AI to complete basic assignments and are unable to think independently without AI assistance. We are not only shaping how students learn today but also the calibre of workforce they become tomorrow. This calls for a rethink in how institutions provide quality education.

Human intelligence

 Around the world, learning institutions are adapting to this technological disruption, asking students to orally support their work, or fully replacing written assignments and exams with oral ones. Unesco has called for a human-centred approach to AI in education, viewing it as a “thought partner” rather than a substitute for human intelligence. In Kenya, we need a fresh look into how we teach and assess learning, with educators moving beyond written assignments to placing greater emphasis on assessments requiring demonstration of understanding and application of knowledge through project-oriented assignments and presentations.

Instead of only producing essays, students can be tasked to explain how they arrived at their conclusions, orally defend their arguments and analyse the sources they consulted. This way, AI becomes a useful learning aid. While it is important to strengthen knowledge of AI technology so that we are not left behind in a fast-paced world, educators should also promote ethical use, and verification to identify possible bias and inaccuracies. Learning institutions must remain the guardians of human intellect and curiosity, generating brilliant citizens able to think critically and offer applicable solutions to real-world problems.

The human mind remains our greatest asset. Creativity, curiosity, and imagination should not be completely replaced. As AI continues to radically transform our classrooms, workplaces and society, it must remain a tool for enhancing human potential, not a substitute for imagination. While the present and the future are shaped by AI, they must definitely be guided and shaped by our human intelligence.

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The writer serves as a commissioner at the Public Service Commission and is an author. He writes in his personal capacity. (harunassan@gmail.com)