College Students Are Testing at the Level of 10-Year-Olds

WE ARE NOW SEEING THE CONSEQUENCES PSYCHOLOGICALLY. YES, FOR THE SAME REASONS THAT HUMANS WILL DIVERT BLAME, THEY'LL ALSO DIVERT COGNITIVE LOAD. IF THEY DO NOT HAVE TO THINK ABOUT SOMETHING, THEY WON'T. WE ARE VERY EFFICIENT LIKE THAT. LITERACY RATES HAVE BEEN DROPPING SINCE THE 90S AND THAT IS NOT JUST A US PROBLEM, IT IS A GLOBAL PROBLEM AND NO ONE IS ENTIRELY SURE WHY. I PERSONALLY THINK IT HAS A LOT TO DO WITH TECHNOLOGY. AND NOW WE HAVE SOME DECENT EVIDENCE FOR IT. IN TERMS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDIES, WE DO ALREADY KNOW THAT USING AI, EVEN BRIEFLY, CAN LOWER YOUR COGNITIVE CAPACITY. AT LEAST WHILE YOU'RE USING THAT, PEOPLE ESSENTIALLY GIVE UP BECAUSE AI CAN THINK FOR THEM. NOW CONSIDER LONG TERM USE, ESPECIALLY WITH A DEVELOPING MIND. WE SHOULD NOT SEE THIS DRASTIC LOWERING OF THE LITERACY RATES, AT LEAST IN THE LAST THREE YEARS. IN FACT, RIGHT NOW IN THE US, 14% OF COLLEGE STUDENTS READ ON THE LEVEL OF A 10-YEAR-OLD. SO THINK ABOUT THE 5TH GRADE. WE KNEW THAT, WE KNEW THAT 50% OF THE US READS AT A 6TH GRADE LEVEL OR BELOW. THAT 50%, THE 6TH GRADE LEVEL IS THE HIGHER END. AND NOW IT IS GOING ALL THE WAY TO HIGHER EDUCATION. A MAJOR PROBLEM BECAUSE YOU ARE EXPECTED TO PERFORM TO COLLEGE, FINDING THAT STUDENTS CANNOT, THEY CANNOT READ, THEY CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE MATERIAL. WE DO NOT FULLY KNOW THE CAUSE. WE KNOW THAT THIS TREND WAS ALREADY HAPPENING, THAT IT'S GOTTEN SIGNIFICANTLY WORSE IN THE LAST FEW YEARS. THERE IS OF COURSE CORRELATION AND CAUSATION. AND JUST BECAUSE YOU SEE SOMETHING DOES NOT MEAN THAT WE ABSOLUTELY IS A I'S FAULT. BUT WE'RE GONNA SOME LONG TERM STUDIES OVER YEARS OF STUDENTS WHO USE AI AND THOSE WHO DON'T. AND I THINK I KNOW WHAT WE'RE GONNA FIND. I DO WANT TO SAY THAT I LIKE AI AND ROBOTICS, VERY MUCH LIKE TO BUILD A FRIEND. BUT THIS TECHNOLOGY IS VERY POWERFUL AND PROBABLY SHOULD NOT BE IN THE HANDS OF EVERYONE, MUCH LESS RUNNING OUR LIVES.