Thoughts on Artificial Intelligence and AI-Dependency
Humanity has long strived for efficiency. We have been observers of the natural world; navigating a complex environment that we, at first, could barely fathom. Understanding our environment took ingenuity and creativity. We experienced successes that informed us how to improve our own technologies. People likely used logs and rollers to move very heavy objects and yet the Wheel is recorded to have been invented until the copper age 4500-3300 BCE. It took a long time for us to have the ingenuity to put an axel on a disc. That's so basic in today's lexicon of information that even children know it.
Fast forward to today, and I ask you, "can you program?"
How many of us know the ins and outs of the basic home computer? We might say "I know it works" but this lack of understanding is taken for granted. We shuffle the responsibility to the professionals that have the knowledge and let them do the thinking for us. It's an advantage or luxury for our modern society, that we can allow others to specialize in a field and become an expert. I pose the question, "is this good and should we not all have the basic understanding of their workings, just like the wheel?"
It should seem obvious the complex difference between these two examples. One is basic and from far long ago. Computers, however, are not yet even 100 years old. It should be thought that due to their relative recent development, that more people should have been taught in school how they work. We are taught how to use them and in that method of teaching we have become ever more reliant on them, just like the wheel. Can we imagine a world without computers?
I bring this up as a pre-curser. A thought we should all be engaging is, "how does the computer shape society?" As a tool, the computer works because we tell it to. Yes, some of the workings are in the background, and can be flawed, but at the end of the day it has been programmed and we understand it.
This is not the case for artificial intelligence. We have a "magical" tool that seemingly thinks for itself, but does it? There are many experts that have weighed in on the use of AI, some are for, some are sounding the alarm; but they all have in common one phrase, "we don't really know how it works."
So, let's think about this. If you go to google, a search engine that has become the epitome of information with the phrase "just google it," you will see right on the top an AI Overview. We are presented with the information we are looking for, without having to do any digging for ourselves. This information is assumed to be vetted and accurate, much like the standards we hold in our printed literature. Alas, it's been proven that AI is wrong at times, a phrase called "AI Hallucination" is being thrown out there. You might have also heard the phrase "AI Psychosis" which seems to describe people that have been so influenced by AI that their own mental state is struggling.
This leads into why I'm here. Why you are here reading this. Why does AI play such an important role in our society, when it's literally in its infancy. AI is 2-3 years old at this point and could you imagine taking advice from a 2-3 year old?
What does it do to a person to read messages that convince them of things they haven't verified for themselves? When I was taught internet literacy, I was taught not to take the first google result as the only place to look for answers. I was taught to dig and verify that the information we are reading is correct. So why does AI get a pass? Why does AI, which is also reading all this same misinformation, get to collect what it likes and people are taking it for granted? What do you think has changed in society?
This issue could be from a work-related aspect, that digging for information takes work and time. Maybe it's our time we value so much; that a quickly generated result is, seemingly, the best result?
This should be concerning. As a parent, teacher, counselor; I'm concerned for the impact it's having. I see people, stuck in short thought processes, unable to consume a lengthy paper like this. There are reports of children, you adults and even mature seasoned adults becoming more reliant on this technology and suffering because of it.
Imagine being 17, growing up on technology and being so accustomed to screens that AI is the go-to for every decision. Asking the AI, "should I meet my friends for coffee?" or, "what school should I apply for?" or, "What is the meaning of life?"
This should be concerning. These questions all have one thing in common, nearly all of us have thought these questions at one point in time; and importantly, it means we are thinking. The co-dependent use of AI is beginning to cause our young and old to resist independent thought, as well as stifling ingenuity and creativity. It's also entrenched in our technology to the point that it's becoming increasingly difficult to avoid.
There are very bright, young minds out there still inventing and creating and I believe we need to shape the world to better inspire growth rather than allowing for a stagnated AI culture to surface.
What we can do is to continue to employ people to do our projects. If you need a poster, an animated character, a theme song; get a person to design it without the use of AI. We have plenty of tools available to us and I encourage people to start using people.
This brings me to an important point: patience. We are losing it as a society. The ability to call up information on a whim has been slowly conditioning us to accept a reality where we don't have to work for or wait to get the information we are searching.
I propose; It's not progress, it's co-dependence. AI-dependence; and I'm concerned. By removing the tasks associated with actual learning and independent thought, we are being conditioned. In reality, do we really think that if we stop using those skills, we will keep them? We know this to be the contrary, that failure to exercise a skill means the loss of the skill. How many advanced math classes have you taken and how much of that math do you remember? How many rules, related to Grammar, Spelling, Writing conventions can you remember?
I’m not saying we need to turn it off or avoid it. I do not want you to have feelings of despair or hopelessness. Therefore, I wish to leave you with an actionable thought. Realize your own use of AI and how it plays a part in your life. Make choices that you are equipped to make without the assistance of AI. Find your patience; have patience for yourself and others. Allow for the time it takes to receive information without expecting an immediate answer. We are equipped with the tools already, to learn and be creative. Have the patience to engage in the beginning processes of things and resist the urge to jump to a conclusion that was provided.
There can indeed be a world where AI serves a productive and helpful purpose but we are not currently anywhere close. We are at the fore-front of this technology and while it's in its infancy we have the opportunity to act and respond to better equip people with what we need; to release society from this increasing AI-Dependency.
-Dustin Shilling
9/3/2026