The Tribune

INEVITABILITY is a sales pitch that’s consistently made for artificial intelligence. Proponents try to scare everyone into getting on board, and doing so quickly, to avoid being left behind. As artificial intelligence increases in ubiquity—seemingly in use by everyone, everywhere, at all times—it becomes harder to believe that we can keep choosing not to use it. The “artificial intelligence is inevitable” argument is a way to get us to give up and simply stop resisting it, regardless of the cost. Even people who try to make distinctions and set boundaries for use admit that issues with it persist, and it’s having a detrimental impact on education, creativity, and human development.

In her guest essay for The New York Times, designer and brand strategist Debbie Millman posits that people over the age of 40 are “ready” to use artificial intelligence. She warns of the loss we suffer when younger people who have not had certain educational and professional experiences simply use technology to produce their work, skipping the difficult parts that not only show us who we are, but help to make us who we are.

“We have been so quick to treat access to new technology as an inevitability that we have failed to question whether every powerful tool should be placed in the hands of every developing mind the moment it becomes available,” she said.

Millman shared a story from the classroom. Students were given guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence and signed a contract agreeing to the terms. They were permitted to use artificial intelligence for research, but not in the place of their own thinking processes and original writing. They were given reminders of the terms, especially when it was time to produce their theses, since it was expected that they would “wrestle with language, evidence, doubt and the responsibility of making an argument they can confidently stand behind and defend.”

Still, it was found that some students used artificial intelligence in ways that were not aligned with the agreement. Millman doesn’t believe the students were trying to be deceptive. When confronted, they admitted to using artificial intelligence, but said it was to “augment and synthesize” their writing.

“I found their use of the word “augment” especially revealing because it allowed the act to appear smaller than it was; it made the intervention of AI in their work sound cosmetic and clerical, when what was actually being altered was the student’s relationship to struggle, authorship and accountability,” Millman said.

In her essay, Millman highlighted the importance of the discomfort that comes with creating. Staring at the blank page, struggling with ideas, finding out what we think, and putting it on the page is a part of becoming. She separates the confusion everyone experiences before processing ideas and developing thoughts from failure, noting that people who do not learn to process on their own are, and will be, incapable of distinguishing the two.

The debate on artificial intelligence, particularly with regard to educational institutions, has put significant focus on cheating. Millman suggests that the cheating that arises from artificial intelligence may not be the most detrimental effect. “The more profound risk is that young people will use artificial intelligence to bypass the development of their own interior lives and fail to hone their actual intelligence.”

We are already in an intellectual crisis. People are less willing to think. We may have previously thought that the issue was contained, limited to particular areas. “We need more media literacy!” we thought. “We need to teach critical thinking skills!” we insisted.

We were not wrong, but that wasn’t the full picture. Many people don’t seem to want to read between the lines or beyond the headlines. Many people don’t seem to want to think at all. Many want, and have come to expect, information spoon-fed to them.

People of varied backgrounds and professions have chosen to turn to artificial intelligence to avoid thinking, whether or not they think they are saving time. The simplest tasks are being outsourced to machines—which, we must not forget, deplete natural resources, destroy the environment, steal the work of human beings, and make errors—from recipes that could easily be found online or requested from a person to technical papers that could be written with the support of available research and human resources for interviews and feedback. The repeated choice to use artificial intelligence is making it a go-to even for people who know better than relying on such a “tool,” knowing the results will be subpar and the practice will lead to decreased interest in engaging with people, being creative, and trying and learning as a result of the effort.

Millman suggests that the loss for individuals and the collective experience as a result of artificial intelligence is worse for the young because they have not had the experience of being confused and unsure, working through it, and getting better at thinking and creating through the process of thinking, sharing, and being assessed.

“Before a person asks a machine to write for them,” she said, “they should know what it feels like to write from the depths of their own uncertainty and identity. Before a person lets a machine imitate their voice, they should have endured the long, uneven, often humiliating process of acquiring one.”

Recommendations

1. Children of Blood and Bone by Toni Adeyemi. This first book in a trilogy for young adults quickly grew in popularity, read and enjoyed by people beyond the target audience of the genre. The film adaptation will be released in January 2027, so there is some time for those who have not yet read the book to catch up. The book, as all readers know, is always better than the movie. In this case, there is some controversy. The author recently distanced herself from the film adaptation, but she has not given an explicit reason. She, of course, stands by the book. One reviewer said, "It is always risky to step into a book as hyped as this one, but I, for one, think it very much deserves it. A compelling, exciting plot, a completely non-white cast of characters, AND a thoughtful consideration of race, skin colour, and prejudice... impressive, to say the least. Though that cliffhanger is EVIL. How will we cope until the next book?”

2. Join Feminist Book Club. Hosted by Equality Bahamas and Poinciana Paper Press, Feminist Book Club is reading These Heathens by Mia McKenzie. The publisher says it is “a funny, poignant story about Black women’s obligations and ambitions, what we owe to ourselves, and the transformative power of leaving your bubble, even for just one chaotic weekend.” Feminist Book Club will meet at Poinciana Paper Press, 12 Parkgate Road on August 19 at 6pm to discuss the book. In her review, Author Roxane Gay said “There is a lot to love in We Heathens, set in 1960s Georgia. Mia McKenzie captures the voice of Doris, her protagonist beautifully as a young woman who rarely gets to make decisions for herself and when a beloved teacher takes Doris to Atlanta for an abortion, she starts to realize she can make her world bigger on her own terms if only she will allow herself. What I really enjoyed was how much this novel centered women in a time when women’s choices were often constrained by so many factors beyond their control. There is a depth of character to the principals that makes it easy to lose yourself in these words.” Register to join Feminist Book Club: tiny.cc/fbc2026.

3. Paper & Pour is “a relaxed summer afternoon of art, books, and matcha” at TERN Gallery, Mahogany Hill, Western Road. It begins with a book swap. So show up with gently used books and get ready to browse the books others bring. There is no limit to the number of books you can add to the pile, and no limit to the number of books you can take away with you. This is a great way to refresh your bookshelves. Mark your calendar—August 1, 11am to 3pm. Email info@terngallery.com for more information.