Something is going very wrong these days. AI has made his ways into lives, for better or worse. My guess is that even we had it coming, we were not prepared for the change to come, and the considerable drop in the academic level that will follow.

Wherever you look at, AI tools are in everyday’s lives of students and faculty. Besides the ease of use and the considerable time gained in otherwise menial tasks, the negative impact on critical thinking and creativity is already being seen. Students are unable to write down 4 lines of code, are becoming lazy in formulating a reasoning process, and some of my colleagues are now unable to write an email in simple English.

One could discuss years about causes. One could even argue that this is a typical and expected development in all new technologies. Computers were first dedicated for technical computations, and lead to game consoles; Internet was used for communication between scientists, before it became a shitshow with social networks. It was only logical that, once the AI topic was out of scientists’ hands, it turned into something dangerous for intellectual activity in the long run.

Disclaimer: I’m using AI too, though I try to maintain a use as limited as possible. I admit that maintaining code with it, finding references, managing administrative duties and more generally pertaining with tedious but mandatory tasks became incredibly easy. But let it be said: I already feel that words come to me a little be less easily, that I’m becoming intellectually lazier (I’m getting old too, so it doesn’t help). Without being overly Marxist, we must not forget that these tools, if anything, remain commercial products. Possible with the associated aim to transform people into consumers easier to control. Should we get rid of it? It is probably too late for that. But I want to believe it is possible to have a reasoned, ethical, use of it.

I’m starting writing down what I’m seeing, before I forget. The struggle is lost; it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t fight.