Irish Examiner view: In the era of AI, education is at a premium

UCC's rise in university rankings reaffirms that quality education is still in demand — heartening in the light of a study suggesting artificial intelligence may have deleterious effects on human cognition

Researchers at MIT, with an admittedly very small sample size, suggest that the use of ChatGPT and similar AI tools results in reduced cognition. Stock picture

While the rush by companies to crowbar artificial intelligence into every product imaginable continues — even if it’s not actually artificial intelligence and just tools that are good at predicting the answer you’re looking for — the technology is already showing detrimental effects on the human mind.

A study published this month by researchers at MIT, with an admittedly very small sample size, suggests that the use of ChatGPT and similar tools results in reduced cognition, which is essential for independent critical thinking: “Over four months, LLM [large language model] users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioural levels.

These results raise concerns about the long-term educational implications of LLM reliance and underscore the need for deeper inquiry into AI’s role in learning. 

The rush from AI opponents online was to say something like “AI makes you stupid”, but that is both inaccurate and unfair. Still, the technology isn’t going away any time soon, and quite apart from the environmental and, apparently, mental damage we had a warning just this past week that AI could come to the detriment of Irish jobs.

Members of the AI Advisory Council — made up of 15 independent experts who advise the Government on Ireland’s AI strategy — appeared at an Oireachtas committee to say that they predict software engineers, junior lawyers, and customer service jobs to be the first to take the hit. They note that entry-level programming jobs are already being replaced by AI, as the industry behind the technology applies it to itself first. But whether the technology ends up augmenting or replacing the humans in the loop remains to be seen, largely because most large-scale experiments seem to be giving mixed results at best.

Tesla finally launched its seemingly eternally promised autonomous driving taxis in Texas (with a person sitting in the front seat by the way, even if not driving), only for them to make a plethora of basic driving errors. While the shareholders seem happy, especially after the first quarter’s debacle on the back of Elon Musk’s dalliance with government and despite slumping Tesla car sales generally, whether this will prove a triumph in the long road — pun very much intended — remains to be seen.

That doesn’t mean that the tech giants aren’t prepared to gamble big on automation or artificial intelligence.

Last week, Amazon, which employs some 6,500 people here in Ireland and 1.5m worldwide, told staff that AI would probably mean a reduction in the total number of employees, possibly replacing some of its current corporate staff.

Microsoft is preparing to lay off another 6,000 people while it simultaneously increases spending on AI. The cuts are across sales and other teams, and the talk is of “trimming” the workforce and “aligning it” with company strategy (it still has 2.28m other employees). Microsoft should be warned, though, about expecting an AI solution to bridge any workforce gap: Payments platform Klarna laid off 700 people in 2022 only to have to scramble to rehire many when its AI tool wasn’t up to the task of customer service.

The head of the AI company Anthropic has claimed that half of all entry-level jobs could be replaced by artificial intelligence — but then, he would say that, wouldn’t he?

That said, the IMF has previously noted that as much as 60% of jobs in advanced economies are exposed to AI, and not all for the better.

Good news, then, that in recent weeks University College Cork has risen in the international university rankings, holding a space in the top 1% globally. It shows that quality education is still in demand, and with it the training in critical thinking and reasoning that will stand to the whole of society in the long run.

There are ways that AI tools and apps can be beneficial, but right now the biggest return on investment for the technology has been wanton devastation of climate and copyright.

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Employment equality 

With the last school now shut for the summer, we face into a time that prior to covid would have been increasingly fraught for working parents — not just keeping their children entertained, but physically kept hale and hearty while they are off working in an office.

The rise of hybrid, flexible, and remote working options has, if not put paid to that, at least made it more easy to navigate for some, though not all. And it must be acknowledged that a great many jobs have never been able to allow for remote or hybrid options, such as retail or manufacturing.

Still, for parents of young and not so young children, being able to be physically present in their youngsters’ lives represents time reclaimed, with all the emotional and relationship development benefits that brings. Doubly so for the parents or carers of children with disabilities, for whom summer camps and other such activities might be a pipe dream.

One might expect that remote and hybrid working, meanwhile, would have levelled the playing field for our disabled citizens. And, while there is evidence generally that more people with disabilities have been able to access employment in the Western world, Ireland is lagging behind.

Last week’s Feelgood pages noted that Ireland’s disability employment rate of 32.6% is not only way below the EU average of 51.3%, but is the absolute bottom of the EU table.

More than 1.1m people in this republic have at least one long-lasting condition according to census figures, with some 350,000 experiencing difficulty taking part in activities, and just over 300,000 experiencing a difficulty working at a job or attending school or college. Not all disabilities are visible.

Disabled workers find a plethora of obstacles in their way, from losing their social protection payments to the interview and testing process, to not even being part of the conversation because they are not targeted for recruitment.

Many companies offer adaptations to work environments, and there are other supports available to firms.

The American civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer once said: “Nobody is free until everybody is free.” Isn’t it time we did a better job of ensuring that our citizens who face obstacles are given the same freedom as everybody else?