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.
AI and the Zone of Proximal Development
The developing brain works in a way close to this. It grows far more synaptic connections than it will keep and then prunes the ones experience does not reinforce, holding on to the pathways that get used and insulating them with myelin so they connect more thoroughly and a re harder to lose.
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.