AI can rob us of important skills

Artificial intelligence is developing at a rapid pace. But there are not only positive voices about these developments. Now a psychology professor from the USA is warning that we could lose important skills due to AI.

In addition to success stories from the field of artificial intelligence, warnings on this topic also repeatedly spill over into the public discussion. Now there is a psychology professor from the University of Southern California who warns about the developments caused by the use of AI.

However, he does not paint a horror scenario on the wall, but points out that important abilities in humans could be regressed through the use of AI systems.

That's why a psychology professor warns against the use of AI

Joe Árvai is a psychology professor at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences at the University of Southern California. He warns in a blog post The Conversation from the effects of the use of artificial intelligence.

In addition to the already known risks that critics often discuss in connection with AI, Árvai sees another problem. This would overshadow all the other risks, even if it is a “largely invisible threat”.

Árvai, who is also director of the Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability, sees this problem as rooted in his own research. He studies how people make decisions and suggests that AI is “one keystroke away from making people even less disciplined and competent when it comes to making thoughtful decisions.”

Does decision-making ability suffer from the use of artificial intelligence?

The psychology professor explains what people need to make well-thought-out decisions. This requires three steps that are based on common sense.

You first have to take time to understand a task or problem, close gaps in your knowledge and question your own previous beliefs and assumptions. This means that a decision can be easily defended later if there is criticism.

In the second step, the existing options are considered and weighed against each other. The third step, according to Árvai, refers to the “willingness to delay a decision until all necessary considerations have been made.”

With these three steps, people come to a well-thought-out and justifiable decision. But the use of AI can impair these skills, according to the psychology professor.

Psychology professor focuses on AI

Árvai describes these three steps as not “particularly difficult”. Nevertheless, they are “not intuitive” for many people.

Making thoughtful and justifiable decisions takes practice and self-discipline.

However, that is exactly the crux of the matter with the “largely invisible threat” posed by artificial intelligence. Because AI systems only spit out the answers to their questions.

Both the context for the decision and the considerations that led to it remain in the background. AI deprives people of the opportunity to practice making thoughtful and justifiable decisions.

The data that AI evaluates for its algorithms consists of people's biased decisions, which also reflect the pressure of conformity rather than the wisdom of critical thinking.

People like to have decisions made for them. However, he can accept that these are bad decisions – which creates a “dangerous feedback loop”.

Also interesting: