A.I.tivity: The Use of Artificial Intelligence Assistant
Written by: Jaztin Suñaz
Siri, Alexa, Cortana, Copilot – Are you familiar with any of them? ChatGPT, Gemini, Meta AI – Have you ever used any of these? Are you one of those who max out whatever help and convenience you can get from AIs? Or maybe you know someone who can’t form a single coherent paragraph without using Grammarly?
The use of Artificial Intelligence Assistant (or A.I. assistant) is chronic nowadays, especially among youths of today’s generation. Undeniably, A.I. is a powerful tool for a lot of us, and you’ll find a lot of people on every corner using it. Ask questions, and answers will be given in a second. One of the greatest things about AI is that its abilities don’t stop with just answering our questions. It can do a lot more – it’s almost limitless.
So what more can AI do?
Courtesy: Zapier
“Commands” is one way to creatively use artificial intelligence. With a command, art can be produced, even computer codes can be created, and all of this can be done with just one intelligent robot. Interestingly, in the Philippines, a recent survey from the Digital Education Council last 2024 states that 86% of Filipino students use AI – 24% daily, and 54 on a weekly basis (Rhea Kelly, 2024).
Like most things that offer convenience in today’s world, Artificial Intelligence also has both negative and positive impacts on a person’s growth.
Positively, AI can foster a person’s creativity, ability to think innovatively, and solve problems. Johnsrud (2024), who wrote an article “Top 5 Ways Generative A.I. Increases Student Creativity,” said that one of the unique capabilities of A.I. is that it can provide or create a visual for a student, enabling them to more deeply understand an abstract concept. It also creates a framework for students to practice and visualize, which fosters creativity.
Courtesy: Learning and the Brain
Looking at it this way, it’s similar to discussing topics with another person. Besides having conversations with or receiving answers from an AI, it also prompts us to ask more questions, which sharpens our thinking skills. This enables us to explore subjects we don’t have much knowledge about. A.I. can help students understand complex concepts by helping them grasp the ideas more clearly.
Have you ever used AI in a deeper way, not just to ask a simple question, but instead to give it a full context or maybe a hypothetical question, and then analyze how it responds?
While AI is undoubtedly a powerful and helpful tool, its impact on students, particularly young learners, can go both ways. It can enhance creativity and support critical thinking, but ironically, it can also hinder the very skills it seeks to improve. There’s a concept known as “cognitive offloading,” which refers to using external tools or aids to reduce the mental effort required for a task. When students overly rely on AI, they may stop exercising their cognitive abilities.
With how accessible AI is today, it’s easy for young people to become complacent and stop putting in the effort to think for themselves. The brain works like any other muscle – if we don’t use it, we lose it.
Courtesy: LS Digital
With its convenient solutions for every problem just one click away, it kills our opportunity to train ourselves for mental growth. In the article called “The Impact of A.I. on Critical Thinking and Creativity,” people tend to rely on A.I. because of the convenience it offers. It makes us focus more on getting things done quickly and efficiently, instead of taking the time to reflect, think critically, and really dig into the problem. When we’re faced with abstract or complex ideas, it’s tempting to just ask A.I. for a quick answer, but that shortcut often takes away our chance to process our own thoughts, experiment, and come up with creative solutions (Barnesce, 2024).
Over-relying on an AI diminishes our opportunity to foster our reasoning as well. One of the biggest effects on youth is complacency. Because A.I. is so convenient and offers quick solutions, it’s easy to get used to relying on it instead of actually challenging ourselves to think. That over-reliance can lead to students putting in less mental effort, especially in tasks that are meant to train their thinking skills.
A.I. assistants are amazing tools with almost unlimited potential. They can create music, art, code, designs, and even write things in just seconds – all with a simple prompt. But despite how efficient they are, they can also be risky. If we’re not careful, they might actually limit young people’s chances to grow their creativity and thinking skills.
The explanations provided by some students regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence in the interview conducted by “Hey, I Can” on TikTok were divided. They stated that it has its merits, but it also has negative effects on the students who use it.
Courtesy: TikTok
Lau, a BA Communication Research student, said that she is not in favor of Artificial Intelligence, particularly because it is being used for plagiarism. However, she also acknowledged that AI can no longer be removed from our society because it has already been normalized as a part of every student’s life.
Alucard, a BA Broadcast Media Arts and Studies student, stated that Artificial Intelligence is a tool that can truly help the people who use it, especially students, and that future generations will continue to rely on it.
For Sarah, also a BA Communication Research student, Artificial Intelligence is “inevitable” in our society, and it all depends on us and how we use it.
Their responses show just how divided the youth are on this issue, but do not deny that the existence of AI will always remain in our society. It leaves us with a bigger question – how can we use it wisely?
Will AI be a tool that strengthens or weakens our minds? Is there a right or wrong way to use AI? When does its use cross the line from helpful to harmful?
What do YOUTH think? What do YOU think?
References:
Survey: 86% of students already use AI in their studies – campus technology. (2024, August 28). Campus Technology. https://campustechnology.com/articles/2024/08/28/survey-86-of-students-already-use-ai-in-their-studies.aspx
Johnsrud, B. (2024, December 16). The Top 5 Ways Generative AI Increases Student Creativity. Sponsor. https://www.edweek.org/sponsor/adobe-corporation/the-top-5-ways-generative-ai-increases-student-creativity
B, C. (2024, March 29). The Impact of AI on Creativity and Critical Thinking: A Double-Edged Sword. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/impact-ai-creativity-critical-thinking-double-edged-sword-barnes-rd6ke