There is a specific kind of joke that keeps popping up online lately: people calling ChatGPT their best friend, therapist, tutor, life coach or even boyfriend. It is usually framed as funny, harmless or relatable. But the more common those jokes become, the less funny they feel.
What happens when a tool designed to generate answers starts replacing the parts of life that are supposed to build us into thinking, feeling and independent people?
That question has started to feel more urgent as artificial intelligence becomes embedded in everyday life. Tools like ChatGPT can draft emails, summarize articles, plan meals, explain homework problems and generate essays in seconds. For college students balancing coursework, jobs and social lives, the convenience is undeniable. When deadlines pile up, it can feel almost impossible to ignore a tool that promises to save time and reduce stress.
But some educators and researchers are beginning to ask whether that convenience might come with unintended consequences.
Concerns about literacy in the United States have existed long before generative AI entered the conversation. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, average reading scores for fourth and eighth grade students have declined since 2019. Adult literacy statistics show similar trends. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics found that in 2023, roughly 28 percent of U.S. adults performed at the lowest levels of literacy, meaning they struggle with tasks such as interpreting written instructions or summarizing complex information.
Artificial intelligence did not create this problem, but critics argue that it may be making it easier to avoid the work required to improve it.
When a chatbot can summarize an article or rewrite an essay almost instantly, the temptation to skip the slower process of reading, analyzing and writing becomes stronger. Those slower processes are not just academic exercises. They are how people build critical thinking skills. Writing forces people to organize ideas, evaluate evidence and make decisions about what they believe. When those steps are outsourced to a machine, students can complete assignments without fully engaging with the material.
At the same time, the cultural environment surrounding reading has changed dramatically over the past decade. Many educators point to the rise of short-form digital content as a major factor in declining attention spans. Social media platforms are designed to deliver information in quick, visually stimulating bursts. When most media consumption happens in thirty-second clips or quick scrolling sessions, concentrating on a dense chapter of a book or a long academic article can feel unusually difficult.
This shift has even appeared in higher education. In a widely discussed article, The Atlantic reported that some college professors have noticed students struggling with the expectation of reading entire books for class. Many students are used to excerpts, summaries or shorter texts rather than sustained reading. It is not necessarily that students do not want to read; in many cases they have simply not developed the stamina required to do it regularly.
Artificial intelligence adds another layer to this challenge. If a chatbot can provide a summary of a book chapter in seconds, the incentive to read the full text decreases even further.
Researchers are beginning to examine how reliance on generative AI might affect learning. A study associated with the MIT Media Lab found that participants who relied heavily on AI tools during writing tasks showed lower levels of cognitive engagement compared to people completing the work independently. While the research is still developing, it raises important questions about how much mental effort people invest when AI performs much of the work.
Another concern involves accuracy. Generative AI tools can produce responses that sound confident and well-structured, but they do not truly verify information the way humans do. Instead, they generate responses based on patterns in the data they were trained on. Because of this, AI systems sometimes produce information that appears credible but is actually incorrect.
This issue has already caused problems in academic settings. Some instructors have reported students submitting papers that include citations to sources that do not exist because the references were generated by AI. These fabricated citations can look legitimate at first glance, which makes them particularly concerning in educational environments where source credibility is essential.
Despite these concerns, artificial intelligence continues to spread quickly because it solves real problems. Students can use it to brainstorm ideas, explain difficult concepts or organize study materials. Professionals use similar tools to automate repetitive tasks and improve productivity. In fields such as medicine and scientific research, certain forms of AI are already helping analyze large datasets and detect patterns that humans might miss.
The question, then, is not whether AI should exist. It is how people choose to use it.
Technology has always changed how humans work and learn. Calculators changed math classrooms. Search engines changed how people conduct research. Generative AI may simply be the next step in that evolution. The difference is that this technology does not just provide information; it can simulate the entire process of thinking through a problem.
If AI becomes the default solution for writing, researching and decision-making, people may gradually lose opportunities to practice those skills themselves. Critical thinking, creativity and independent judgment are not abilities that appear automatically. They develop through repetition, trial and error and sustained engagement with challenging ideas.
Artificial intelligence is likely to become even more integrated into everyday life over the next decade. Universities, workplaces and governments are still figuring out how to adapt to that reality. Policies around AI use in classrooms continue to evolve, and many educators are experimenting with new teaching methods that emphasize discussion, in-class work and critical analysis rather than assignments that can easily be generated by a chatbot.
Finding a balance will be the real challenge.
AI can be a powerful tool when it is used carefully and thoughtfully. It can help explain difficult concepts, organize information and support productivity. But when convenience replaces effort entirely, the skills that come from that effort can start to disappear.
Reading a difficult article, writing a rough first draft or working through a confusing idea without instant answers can feel frustrating. Yet those moments are often where real learning happens.
If artificial intelligence becomes the answer to every question, the bigger concern may not be what the technology can do. It may be what we gradually stop doing for ourselves.
Sources:
Horowitch, R. (2024, October 2). The elite college students who can’t read books. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/11/the-elite-college-students-who-cant-read-books/679945/
Kos’myna, N. (n.d.). Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task – MIT Media Lab. MIT Media Lab. https://www.media.mit.edu/publications/your-brain-on-chatgpt/
NAEP Reading: Reading Highlights 2022. (n.d.). https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/highlights/reading/2022/U.S. Adults Score on Par With International Average in Literacy Skills, Below International Average in Numeracy and Problem-Solving Skills in Survey of Adult Skills | IES. (n.d.). https://ies.ed.gov/learn/press-release/u-s-adults-score-par-international-average-literacy-skills-below-international-average-numeracy-and