is ai ruining social relationships for young adults?
This article discusses how AI tools could be affecting the social skills and relationships of young adults. Particularly for people between the ages of 18 and 26, increasing AI reliance is leading to more feelings of loneliness and a decrease in human contact. People are transitioning to online lifestyles, which directly affects how they converse with people beyond a screen. Suddenly, holding eye contact and keeping a conversation going are major struggles younger people face. The article mentions social isolation, “the lack of social contacts and having few people to interact with regularly, as well as, feeling lonely while being around other people,” as one of the major side effects of high reliance on technology.
increased ai use linked to eroding critical thinking skills
This article explains how cognitive offloading is the primary driver of declining critical thinking skills. One of the main benefits of using AI tools is that they reduce the effort needed for mundane or repetitive tasks. Because of this, AI-assisted or powered tools are heavily integrated into our daily lives, but could potentially harm how we think. Excessive cognitive offloading can affect several cognitive functions such as memory, attention, and problem-solving.
AI technology will continue to grow no matter the circumstance; therefore, in order to prevent the complete eradication of critical thinking skills, the author of the article poses some suggestions. Within the school environment, more can be done to push students to emphasize critical thinking exercises and metacognitive skill development. Developers of AI technology should intergate levels of engagement rather than passive reliance.
the decline of literacy and the rise of ai: are we losing the ability to think?
This article discusses the reliance on AI technology and its effect on literacy. We are seeing a decline in literacy among children, specifically in basic reading comprehension and critical thinking. Students are using AI models to summarize books and write essays for them. From a recent study, 86% of students said they were using artificial intelligence tools in their schoolwork, and almost a fourth of them said they used them daily.
The growth in artificial intelligence reliance demonstrates a rise in anti-intellectualism where basic reading and comprehension skills are devalued, intellectual curiosity is discouraged, and AI is rapidly replacing human thought. This raises concerns about the loss of human autonomy – the ability to form original thoughts, to think for themselves. The overreliance on AI poses issues with people being manipulated and fed misinformation.
citations
Epbrosky. Is AI ruining social relationships for young adults? – Communication Research by Communication Scholars. 18 Oct. 2023, blogs.millersville.edu/revisedcommresearchf23/2023/10/18/is-ai-ruining-social-relationships-for-young-adults.
Jackson, Justin. “Increased AI use linked to eroding critical thinking skills.” Science X Network, 13 Jan. 2025, phys.org/news/2025-01-ai-linked-eroding-critical-skills.html.
Ruvalcaba, Elliott. “The Decline of Literacy and the Rise of AI: Are We Losing the Ability to Think?” The Express, 28 Feb. 2025, sjhexpress.com/opinion/2025/02/28/the-decline-of-literacy-and-the-rise-of-ai-are-we-losing-the-ability-to-think.