Are AI Tools Quietly Weakening Student Thinking?

As AI tools quietly become a staple in classrooms, a surprising danger is emerging — not just plagiarism or shortcut learning, but the slow erosion of students’ ability to truly think. In a recent opinion piece in The New York Times, educator Anastasia Berg warns that even basic AI use, like auto-summarizing or outlining, risks weakening students’ language skills — the very foundation of human thought and independent judgment.

Are we trading our cognitive abilities for convenience? And what happens when future generations struggle not just to write, but to understand complex ideas at all?

This is a must-read for educators and anyone concerned about the future of learning in the age of AI.

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/opinion/ai-students-thinking-school-reading.html

_{Note: The Global Library provides campus-wide access to The New York Times.}