Helping students make better AI decisions

An important aspect of addressing AI in writing instruction is helping students make better decisions about when and how they use AI to offload cognitive labor. Lori Kumler in ETS created a slide deck with a classroom activity for getting students to think critically about how AI use affects their learning and cognitive abilities. This activity would be appropriate for a class period early in the semester. You can copy, edit, and use this slide deck with your students.

The slide deck concludes with information about a handy new term: “cognitive debt.” Cognitive debt accumulates when we offload cognitive labor to external sources. An MIT study finds evidence that over-use of LLMs may prevent cognitive development. Embedded in the slide deck, Lori used NotebookLM to create a podcast discussing the MIT study. If you prefer a more traditional source that you can share with students, here is an article from Time magazine about the study. 

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