Thoughts on AI, Cognition, and Human DevelopmentPerspectives on Learning
Perspectives features analysis from thought leaders, researchers, and practicing educators who are committed to defining the future of humanity-centered learning.
Anthropomorphizing AI: The Same Mistake at Both Ends of a Life
A child reads "we're soulmates" from a companion app and something in her registers it as true. She may know it's fake. That does not switch off the attachment, and it is why "it's just a chatbot" is not enough for the adults in her life.
AI is Making Disagreement Impossible
61% of school leaders now report receiving AI-generated complaints. When a parent routes a disagreement through a machine, what gets offloaded is not the writing but the relationship, and children learn by watching that a hard conversation is something you can hand off rather than have.
AI is Stealing the Variance from Our Classrooms
When adults offload tasks to AI, they experience cognitive atrophy, the slow degradation of an already established skill. But when children rely on AI, they face cognitive foreclosure, closing the door on developing critical thinking capacities in the first place. Here is why protecting student agency and cognitive friction is the most urgent challenge in education today.