Warning for brain health over offloading deep-thinking skills to AI

With the widespread use of artificial intelligence in schools and universities, there are concerns about its impact on learning and ultimately young brains.

"[AI] can be a great tool; it can help stimulate critical thinking, for example, if used in the right way," neuroscientist Professor James Vickers said.

But he said a recent study of students in China highlighted problems with offloading hard mental work to AI.

Published this year, the study of more than 26,000 students in grades 7 to 12 looked at how generative AI affected homework productivity and learning.

It found AI use lifted homework scores by 18 per cent and improved completion times by 30 per cent.

But it lowered monthly exam scores by 20 per cent within six months.

"There is a risk with AI that it is really going to be affecting our brain function into our future lives,"

Professor Vickers said.

AI and brain plasticity

Learning and deep thinking physically alter the human brain, creating new connections between neurons.

It is known as brain plasticity.

"The brain almost quadruples in weight from birth to adulthood, without adding any new neurons — it's all physical change driven by learning," University of Tasmania senior neuroscience lecturer Dr Matt Kirkcaldie said.

Over time, critical thinking, learning, and other cognitive tasks help build robust nerve networks that underlie what is known as cognitive reserve.

"[Cognitive reserve] is your ability to resist things that negatively impact the brain, that might be stroke or brain injury, multiple sclerosis and even dementia," Professor Vickers said.

Cognitive reserve is built up from early life through schooling, then higher education.

There are concerns AI could impair the development of critical thinking skills.

"They might read the AI-generated text and understand what it says, but they never went through the struggle of working through the ideas and how they might fit in the overall picture," Dr Kirkcaldie said.

Professor Vickers has concerns that using AI instead of developing deep-thinking skills could have long-term impacts.

"The theory is that if you don't build up that kind of connectivity, then when you are impacted by a brain disease such as dementia then the chances are you will develop it earlier than not."

The young people boycotting AI

Some young people are so worried about the impact artificial intelligence could have on their learning they have decided to boycott it.

"I wouldn't want to cheapen my experience at uni, especially with the fees we pay," said Alexis Shegog, who is planning to return to university.

Alexis is part of a group called circa Lutruwita, which has been protesting the development of AI data centres in northern Tasmania.

The group has concerns about the environmental impact of AI data centres and its use in military settings.

They are also worried about AI deepfakes and their impact on personal privacy.

And while they refuse to use AI as part of their studies, they are aware that AI will be in their futures.

"I would want to make sure that I was getting the full value from my course and learning the material, especially if I'm going to have to compete with AI in the future for my job," Ms Shegog said.

"My friends who are in uni at the moment, none of them use AI.

"And most of them are quite concerned about the impact that it has environmentally, socially, and the impact that it is having on their education."

Students not using AI are the exception

A recent report by the eSafety Commission found 78 per cent of Australian children had used an AI assistant.

Ninety-one per cent used it for learning or translation, 70 per cent used it for writing or editing, and 68 per cent used it for entertainment.

Students at Guilford Young College in Hobart have mixed feelings about the technology.

Some said they used it for creating practice tests or simplifying ideas.

"I used it a lot last year for my science-based subjects to explain the more complex topics,"

Lacey Tilyard said.

But she said some of her classes, like psychology, have a strict ban on the use of AI.

Ella Willmott said AI was a good learning tool and had helped her research future employment opportunities.

But she was worried about its impact on creativity.

"I think it's the worst thing for artists. Because it just gets rid of the authenticity and almost the rawness of everyone's art," she said.

How should AI in education be managed?

Professor Vickers said AI may drive a transformation in how educators teach and how student learning is assessed.

"It may be possible to adapt AI engines to encourage critical thinking and learning, so that the AI enables learning rather than replacing it,"

he said.

Professor Kathy Mills, from the Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education at the Australian Catholic University, said teachers want their students to use AI critically.

"Both students and teachers want AI tools that are designed to do more than tell the answers, but which guide student learning," she said.

She said how student learning was assessed would be more important than ever.

"If teachers want to know what students can do without AI, take-home assignments are going to be more difficult for teachers to monitor the level of AI support accessed by students in that context," she said.

Professor Vickers said rethinking education was not just about "trying to catch students out" through exams.

But he said it was about ensuring students could apply learning to different situations, in the same way medical students were presented with clinical scenarios to test their knowledge.