A lecturer from County Clare is “very concerned” on the long-term impacts AI will have on the brains of young people.
Michael Griffin, a Shannon native, has spent 23 years in the University of Limerick teaching across their English curriculum. Throughout his time teaching, Michael has seen first-hand the effect that the development in technology has had to his students.
While AI can create convenience, educators such as Michael have noticed the rise in AI being used to subsidise thinking.
Michael speaks about how himself and his fellow educators question how they are supposed to encourage students to “submit assignments and to give us an honest account of how much of the material that they’ve absorbed”.
It has also give rise to concern with educators around whether or not their means of examining through assignments is giving an accurate depiction of what the student actually has learned.
“Right across the board, there is this concern about, how much you can use non-exam formats to ascertain somebody’s level of knowledge. The other difficulty of course, is that people might actually prepare their examination answers using AI without necessarily reading the texts either.”
He continued, “I do worry about what it is that will happen to the human brain as we outsource some of its functions to technology.”
Griffin maintains a neutral attitude towards AI; noting that while people may carry the concern that AI is going to replace us and change many aspects of our lives, Michael remarks that there is one thing AI will never take away from us, our ability to be human.
“What is there left then for human beings to do? I suppose at the core of that there is, being human”.
