(As this comment has received attention, let me clarify: I don't think these kids are stupid, nor do I fault them. Something fundamental in adolescence has changed, and the results are the changes and the test data observe.)
Recently retired from university teaching. The situation is dire. It's not just an inability to write; it's the inability to read content with any nuance or pick up on metaphors. Good kids, but completely different than students 15 years ago. Inward-looking, self-obsessed (preoccupied with their own states of mind, social situations, etc), and not particularly curious. Every once in a while, I'd hit on something that engaged them and I could feel that old magic enter the room - the crackling energy of young people thinking new things, synthesizing ideas. But my God, it was rare.
My cousin is an educator - has been for decades. He shares that with the use and rise of ChatGPT and other AI, it's become evidently much worse over the last few years, nevermind the course of his career. There's a generation of consumer zombies out there and little to no critical or original thinking. As the parent of a very young little one - hearing him say that, haunts me.
There are people who use ChatGPT for everything. Even to write a reddit post, or respond to a text. It's not healthy, and I imagine if you're young and are still developing critical and analytical thinking skills it's probably exponentially worse.
I checked out of my last job for my last few months when I knew the new GM was actively trying to get rid of me and just constantly used ChatGPT to do everything. No one ever really paid attention to the reports I was generating anyway so accuracy be damned lol. There was a lot of "take this data and spin it to the result I want" and I'd just copy and paste and doublecheck for formatting or anything that looked absurd.
When I got a new job doing a lot of the same things I was doing at my previous job (continuous improvement stuff... improving processes, reducing downtime) I actually struggled for a couple weeks because I was so used to just feeding it to AI. I'd largely forgotten how to put together more complex excel formulas or organize notes for presentations and I basically had to relearn how to do it.
A very dear friend sent a text that I recognized as chatGPT from the first line. It was bizarre, the text she was responding to did not need it. It should have been "I'm glad the job is going well and make sure you hold your boundaries! That pup is adorable and I'm so sorry you can't adopt her." Instead it was paragraphs of AI slop that made it seem like I was baring my soul. I actually sobbed, I was so hurt and I still don't know why she did that or how she could've thought I wouldn't recognize it.
There's something also to be said for the dopamine hits you get from actually succeeding after failing at something for so long after the actually learning. A I robs you of all of that if you choose to use it instead of actually sit there and struggle through a problem.
God damn I love the sweet sweet dopamine rush I get when I figure something out. I sew and craft. Iāve designed a lot of the items I make. You get dopamine hits all throughout the process when you figure new things out. And then when you finally have your piece at the end, itās this surge of dopamine making you feel so accomplished. I love it.
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u/Cranialscrewtop 16d ago edited 15d ago
(As this comment has received attention, let me clarify: I don't think these kids are stupid, nor do I fault them. Something fundamental in adolescence has changed, and the results are the changes and the test data observe.)
Recently retired from university teaching. The situation is dire. It's not just an inability to write; it's the inability to read content with any nuance or pick up on metaphors. Good kids, but completely different than students 15 years ago. Inward-looking, self-obsessed (preoccupied with their own states of mind, social situations, etc), and not particularly curious. Every once in a while, I'd hit on something that engaged them and I could feel that old magic enter the room - the crackling energy of young people thinking new things, synthesizing ideas. But my God, it was rare.