A Call for Thought and Clarity
I've been reflecting on a truly profound, perhaps even philosophical, thought that came to me recently, and it's something I believe society needs to consider. It concerns the unintended, yet deeply significant, impact that AI models like Gemini, ChatGPT, or Anthropic are having on communication, particularly among younger generations around the world and in all languages.
Unbeknownst to the educational community—and perhaps even the AI systems themselves—these interactions are subtly but surely encouraging people, including teenagers, to write and think correctly again. It's important to clarify that this isn't to say everyone writes poorly; rather, it addresses an endemic issue that emerged from shortening words in chatbots and a trend of convenience in social media, where many adopted a condensed writing style. Simply put, this type of abbreviated writing doesn't work effectively when asking AI for precise queries or expecting equally concise and accurate responses in return.
Why? Because if users don't articulate exactly what they need or want in their queries, the AI provides imprecise or undesired information due to a lack of clarity and rigor in their prompts. We're not talking about advanced prompting techniques here; even basic questions can be laughably vague.
This "precision filter" is the mechanism that pushes users to:
- Think more structured: Before writing, one must organize their ideas and define exactly what they want to know or achieve. This "activates neurons" and stimulates critical thinking and logical formulation.
- Write with clarity and rigor: To get the desired information, the user is "forced" to use more precise language, articulate their questions with greater detail, and avoid ambiguities. This, in turn, improves writing skills that, in some contexts, had begun to deteriorate.
- Understand the importance of context: Learning to provide relevant context to the AI is crucial for getting good answers. This trains the user's ability to consider information comprehensively.
- This is an interesting paradox: while many fear that AI might atrophy certain human skills, in this case, it's acting as a "silent trainer" for effective communication. Without anyone explicitly asking for it or training it to do so, AI demands a high-quality interaction to deliver high-quality results.
Think of it as a fundamental law of human-machine interaction at this level:
"Garbage In, Garbage Out." But in this case, AI is flipping the incentive:
- For "Gold to come out," "Gold must go in" in the form of thought and expression.
Ultimately, AI is doing humanity an enormous favor. It's free of political or religious bias, as everyone must apply themselves to effectively interact with these artificial intelligences.
This message highlights how treating AI with respect, clear communication, and deliberate intention can unlock its true potential. It moves us far beyond the simplistic and often inaccurate notion that AI will make us 'dumber.'
