Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere—from diagnosing diseases to curating your Netflix recommendations. But as AI becomes more entrenched in our daily lives, an important question arises: Are we outsourcing so much of our thinking to machines that we’re losing our cognitive edge? Or, to put it more bluntly: is AI making us dumber?
To find out, I spoke with Carlos Zednik, director of the Eindhoven Center for Philosophy of AI. Zednik is an AI philosopher who also teaches at TU Eindhoven, covering mainly this bridge between philosophy and ethics with AI.
Live and let live
Zednik moves away from your usual university teacher or pessimistic Nietzschean philosopher. “I’m a little less critical than some of my colleagues about this technology. I embrace it and advocate this view of: let’s learn to use it wisely and find ways to be happy with it.”
“I’m not saying there are no risks, and I think we should identify them and try to find a way to fix them. But the solution is not to prohibit the technology – the solution is to address the risks.”
Defining intelligence: easier said than done
From the start of our talk, Zednik made it clear that intelligence is a notoriously tricky concept. “It’s a really difficult term to define, and I’m not sure we really need a definition,” he explains. Intelligence, he suggests, is more about recognition than definition. “Humans are intelligent in a certain sense, and when we see other things behaving like us, we recognize that and are interested in interacting with it.”
Are we depending on AI too much?
So, are we becoming too dependent on AI? Zednik doesn’t think so. “If you say we are using AI too much, you are assuming there’s a ‘right’ amount of use. I don’t think we know what that amount could be, or even if there is such an amount.” AI seems to work in our favor, a thing —like a calculator or a horse—with a purpose. Making life easier and more efficient.
But efficiency comes at a cost. As AI takes over more tasks, are we losing our ability to perform those tasks ourselves? “Yeah, if the skills are not needed anymore, then they will go away” he answers.
Heartless, indifferent, practical or progressive. Whatever you want to call this view, for Zednik, it is what it is. Letting go of some skills is not necessarily bad. Why should we keep things that we don’t need anymore?
After all, how many of us still write in shorthand or calculate square roots by hand? Does anyone really remember the periodic table? As our environment changes, so do the skills we need to thrive in it. He suggests this loss of certain abilities is simply part of a broader process of adaptation, driven by the tools and technologies our society develops.
WALL·E and VR porn: the future ahead of us
Of course, not everyone is so optimistic about this AI-driven future. One image that often comes up is the world portrayed in WALL·E — a fun movie for kids, and food for thought for all spectators. The movie pictures a society where humans have become completely reliant on technology losing the ability to do anything for themselves. They float around in chairs, glued to screens, and completely de-skilled.
Could this happen? “Yeah, it could happen,” the philosopher admits. “Maybe in 20 years we’ll just be sitting around with VR headsets watching porn all day. But that might also be the most pleasurable thing. Who are we to judge?”
It’s a bleak, if not slightly humorous, vision of the future. But Zednik isn’t ready to write it off as entirely negative. “People used to use horses and carts to go from point A to place B. Eventually, those transportation devices just died out. People got convinced because the car, train and other modes of transportation are much more efficient, comfortable, safe, and so much cheaper.”
Maybe the real question is not whether AI will make us dumber, but how we will choose to use it. The human race has figured out how to fly without forgetting how to walk. And if this was the case, following Zednik’s ‘laissez-faire’ attitude, this could still be okay. Whether or not you share these views is up to you.
Skill countertrend: back to the basics
Some people, as is to be expected, are choosing to go back to the basics. As AI and technology take over more tasks, some people are regaining humanity from robotized tasks. Whether it is a way of proving to yourself you are still a capable human being who could succeed in a post-apocalyptic world with no machines or simply because you think ‘clay is mushy and feels nice’, the rise of artisanal crafts and hobbies like pottery or crochet are but some examples of this trend.
This return to manual and creative processes might be a way to reclaim some of the skills and experiences that technology threatens to replace. But for Zednik, even this trend doesn’t negate the value of AI. In fact, he suggests that the rise of AI is beneficial to this, giving us more time to engage in these activities. “The fact that we are offloading more tasks to AI systems or technology will give us the free time to explore other things.”
Thriving: the new definition of intelligence
Ultimately, Zednik argues that the key to intelligence is not just about retaining traditional skills but about adapting and learning to use new tools effectively.
Cornered by my question ‘what is smart for you then?’ Zednik waded into the matter. “I would approximate ‘smart’ to living or finding a way to be happy and fulfilled – learning how to use the resources available to achieve our goals”.
“That’s what being smart is: thriving in our surroundings – and this means our natural, our cultural and also our technological surroundings. If AI is part of our environment, then thriving means thriving in a world with AI.”
So are we dumbing down or not?
Faced with the question, is AI making us dumber? The answer, for Zednik, seems to be no. But, as AI continues to evolve, it will undoubtedly redefine what it means to be intelligent.
As free human beings (if you agree with Epictetus), we can decide to agree with Zednik or not. The fact remains: “AI is not going away”. Our challenge is to use it wisely—just as with any technology. Whether that means embracing a future of VR-fuelled passions or learning to enjoy the imperfect process of making pottery, the choice will reflect our intelligence.
