Final Word from Thursday, March 30, 2023
When exactly the reversal of growth in overall human intelligence occurred is debatable, but with every advancement in science and technology, there is a corresponding decline in cognitive development in those who take advantage of the advancements without adding to them. Scientists use calculators to make even greater discoveries, but the average person uses them as a replacement for thinking. Neurologist Martin Jan Stránský often speaks about how modern technology stunts cognitive growth in children. Artificial intelligence and chatbots such as ChatGPT are an incremental, if substantial, advancement in this respect. They will further the divide between the thinkers and the unthinking, as well as between the haves and the have-nots. The world will increasingly be split between those who are slaves to AI and those who are the slave drivers. The goal of parents and of Czech educational institutions should be to overcome or limit the gap so that as many children as possible stay ahead of artificial intelligence and thereby avoid being victims of the further dumbing down of overall human intelligence. [ Czech Republic AI stupidify ]
Glossary of difficult words
to dumb down - to make or become less intellectually demanding or sophisticated;
cognitive - related to mental action or the process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience and the senses;
to stunt - to prevent from growing or developing properly;
incremental - relating to or denoting an increase or addition, esp. one of a series on a fixed scale;
haves and have-nots - those who are wealthy and those who are poor;
slave driver - a person who makes others work very hard.