In the coming years, we will continue to see the world change in drastic ways. Of course, in the previous century we saw great developments in technology, from television to the internet. Yet, now at our door step we have the creation of artificial intelligence, and AI is changing thousands of industries as we know it. 

As a tool, AI is brilliant and will help every industry to be more than effective in accomplishing its goals. Yet, that leaves us – humans – in a particular situation. What happens to our development, particularly, our mental development, with the advent and usage of AI? Now, this is not a rant to why we should get rid of artificial intelligence and completely ban it from educational spheres, and so on. But, in my view, artificial intelligence affords us the opportunity to appreciate more the need for personal human development in relation to our mental and creative capacities. 

If you are beginning college in the coming years, this message is most importantly for you. Attending college, or institutions of higher education, is an opportunity to continue to build, shape and mold your mental abilities. The internet, and now artificial intelligence, has always been a tool that has allowed us to get quick answers through the simple click of a button, but real learning does not happen in that way. Learning requires a struggle, and at times, an arduous mental process. Sure – for some, the pieces of the puzzle come together quite quickly – but for most, learning new and difficult things is an uphill battle. 

My word to you aspiring college students is to embrace the uphill battle. Many will choose the easy route and will use the new technological tools to get easy answers. But for those of you who struggle to learn in these coming years – something will happen. (Again, I am not asking you to abandon the use of AI, but to use it in a way that allows your mental capacities to grow). 

Consider this example: two commanders were leading their armies into battle. One of them had been given blueprints on war tactics for the majority of his career. He always followed the blueprint and was able to win every battle that he faced. Then one day, he was facing a new opponent, which happened to be the second commander. Again, the first commander relied on a blueprint on how to defeat this new adversary which he was now facing. But then something happened. The second commander did not act – he withdrew his troops. The first commander was stifled and had no data on which to base their next move. Nonetheless, he still mobilized his troops into action. Pretending to have withdrawn, the second commander led the opposing army into a trap! The first commander could have never imagined such a strategy because he had always simply followed the blueprint he was given. He could not think on his feet; neither could he think in unconventional ways that could have potentially given him the upper hand in this case. 

Now this example is sort of straight forward. But the key point is that the second commander’s on-the-spot, strategic thinking, which ensured the best course of action, did not come overnight. Through years of experience and training the second commander learned how to make crucial decisions– and when the time came, he made the right call. Because he came up with a novel idea – in this case to not move at all but to set up a trap – the first commander’s “blueprint” was unable to provide an adequate, counter strategy. 

The second commander had to struggle on his own to gain such a victory. In a sense, he could have taken the easy route and used “blue prints” as well, yet down the line, he too would suffer the same fate.

Now, what will happen to those of you who embrace the uphill battle and struggle to learn and write on your own? Will you win great wars? Well, not really. But you will develop key and essential things that will help you grow holistically as a young person in the twentieth first century. 

AI can do a lot of things for you – it can write entire college level essays for you, and it can provide you with several computer programming formulas. Yet, that is the very problem: it will do those things for you. And in the process, your level of literacy and vocabulary may not grow as much. As a matter of fact, you may only continue to use very basic vocabulary and perhaps your speaking skills will also not develop as much. Writing is key in developing not only your voice as it appears on paper, but writing also influences, alters and transforms the way you speak and communicate to others generally. After writing for a year, the words you use and the way you phrase your sentences will change in sophistication. So, again, artificial intelligence can give you the formula necessary to complete that commuter programming code – yet, if there is a bug or two in that code, you would never be able to solve it, unless you learned how to read the programming language yourself. 

So, for the next coming years, it seems to me that we all are in some sort of large social experiment – especially the younger generation. With the advent of AI, how will literacy be impacted? What will happen to this coming generation’s reading and writing skills? If computers will just write for us– what will happen to communication skills? Will unprofessional writing and speaking become the new norm? I do not mean to sound so pessimistic: AI can potentially continue to teach us– and even teach us how to become stronger writers! However, it depends on how we use it and integrate into our own learning process. 

I am very excited for this next generation of learners. I feel like the young people who learn how to struggle through their learning will stand out among many who took the easy route to simply click a button and get quick answers. Artificial intelligence, and new emerging technologies, will only continue to change the ball field of education. I am not asking that we ban them, but use them with discretion; if we hope for any renaissance in human learning for the next generation– we would encourage them to use AI, yet at the same time to struggle to expand their mental and creative capacities alongside this powerful and brilliant tool.