Critical thinking must also be a part of AI literacy

“AI is going to make you dumb if you outsource your problem solving to AI. AI is going to make you the smartest you’ve ever been if you take the parts that are not natural to the human brain…but get the AI to do the work so you do the intelligence.” - Mo Gawdat, author, podcaster and former tech executive who focuses on the implications of rapid AI development.

Twenty years after graduating high school, I attended the University of Georgia with the goal of becoming a high school English teacher so I could teach students to become better communicators.

I was intrinsically motivated to learn, and even though I was the oldest student in all of my classes, attending college wasn’t just about attaining teaching credentials, it was about developing and honing my critical thinking abilities. I spent hundreds of hours reading, annotating, researching, writing, and discussing information about topics that “grew my brain.” UGA provided excellent training to become a teacher, but I became a better critical thinker in the process and that’s really what learning is all about.

My experience with computers and technology has spanned close to four decades. I have been around tech for a long time and I have had the unique opportunity to experience education with, and without, electronic devices to aid and assist my learning. I am a voracious reader and having robust discussions about literature has always been a great source of personal satisfaction.

Pam Amendola is an English educator and University of Georgia Triple Dawg. Amendola sits on the EngageAI Practitioner Advisory Board and is a GenerationAI Fellow. (Courtesy photo.)

The introduction of generative AI into our lives has brought an even greater complexity to learning. GenAI isn’t just a new edtech tool that makes teaching and learning “easier,” it’s disrupting the very definition of what it means to be a learner. As humanity ponders the future of education, I continually immerse myself in preparing for the future of education and with what people need to know to be prepared for a future with AI.

As my former professor Peter Smagorinsky wrote in a recent op-ed for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, I, too, am concerned about the effects of AI on people who “never learn how to think and express themselves, and rely on machines to do it for them.” Generative AI is a pretty cool tool, and has some neat capabilities, but I’m not yet willing to forfeit human thinking over to the machine.

In a recent interview with entrepreneur Marina Mogilko, the Silicon Valley Girl, researcher Mo Gawdat stated there were four ways students can prepare for a future with AI.

1. Be an absolute leader of AI.
2. Learn agility.
3. Ethics, ethics, ethics. Build AI’s for good.
4. Stop believing what you are told. Question everything.

All four of these recommendations require an individual to be a critical thinker. This is easier said than done.

Learning something new requires an individual to be motivated to want to learn. In eduspeak, most people are either intrinsically motivated or extrinsically motivated to learn something new and change a behavior. When a person is intrinsically motivated, the goal toward becoming a critical thinker is achievable. When they are extrinsically motivated, the results end up with short-term satisfaction. Without guidance and instruction, students will use generative AI tools that allow them to cognitively offload their thinking. Why? Because thinking critically is difficult and most humans will opt out when given the opportunity. Students want the easy way out and generative AI allows them to quickly complete a task so they can move on to do something else more interesting.

If a student is only in school to achieve a grade, or to check off a box, then why bother trying to learn anything at all? AI can do it.