Do AI tutors empower or enslave learners? Toward a critical use of AI in education

TL;DR

This paper critically examines the dual role of AI tutors in education, emphasizing the need for responsible use to empower learners while avoiding dependency, ethical issues, and cognitive harm.

Contribution

It offers a critical perspective on AI in education, proposing strategies for ethical, transparent, and empowering integration based on cognitive science and pedagogy.

Findings

Unrestricted AI use may cause cognitive atrophy and dependency.

AI can undermine students' self-efficacy and academic integrity.

Responsible AI integration can enhance meaningful learning.

Abstract

The increasing integration of AI tools in education presents both opportunities and challenges, particularly regarding the development of the students' critical thinking skills. This position paper argues that while AI can support learning, its unchecked use may lead to cognitive atrophy, loss of agency, emotional risks, and ethical concerns, ultimately undermining the core goals of education. Drawing on cognitive science and pedagogy, the paper explores how over-reliance on AI can disrupt meaningful learning, foster dependency and conformity, undermine the students' self-efficacy, academic integrity, and well-being, and raise concerns about questionable privacy practices. It also highlights the importance of considering the students' perspectives and proposes actionable strategies to ensure that AI serves as a meaningful support rather than a cognitive shortcut. The paper advocates for an intentional, transparent, and critically informed use of AI that empowers rather than diminishes the learner.