If We Believe That Artificial Intelligence (AI) Is God-Given, We Are Actually Committing Intellectual Suicide!

As editor in science of long-standing – some 40 years, in Agriculture and Agriculture-related sciences and fields, as well as in the art of  Creative Thinking – I know 2 things: (1) when critical thinking is called for and (2) when creative thinking is the demand of the hour. Like: Writing a research paper to submit to a technical journal needs critical thinking, while writing an article or series of articles to submit to a popular magazine or newspaper needs creative thinking initially.

Unfortunately, Hashem Al-Ghaili’s Facebook post on 08 Feb 2025, “Experts Warn AI Is Literally Destroying Our Ability To Think” is too negative:

If you constantly use AI in almost every single task, you are compromising your critical thinking skills and cognitive capabilities, according to a recent study.

The research involved 666 participants and revealed a significant negative correlation between AI tool usage and critical thinking performance, highlighting the dangers of cognitive offloading. (image from Facebook article)

Who is Al-Ghaili? Wikipedia says of him (en.wikipedia.org):

Hashem Al-Ghaili (born 11 Aug 1990) is a Yemeni molecular biologist, science communicator, and director. He is best known for his eponymous Facebook page, which he created in 2008. There, he publishes infographics and short-form videos about scientific news and research. As of October 2022, the page had secured more than 32 million followers.

Wow! But all that doesn’t intimidate me – I still disagree!

Mr Al-Ghaili says, “Cognitive offloading is characterized by the tendency to rely on technological tools to reduce mental effort.” Simply said, “If you can find something to copy to submit for your homework or add to your thesis or support your paper, an AI product is very tempting!”

Right. But I beg to differ with Mr Al-Ghaili – AI is not destroying our ability to think but simply relegating it to the background. And yes, Mr Al-Ghaili does not distinguish between Creative Thinking and Critical Thinking. To simplify: Creative thinking is mostly for the writers, and critical thinking is mostly for the scientists.

I creative thinker would not submit myself to the uncreative slavery of AI!

Which points to this: While AI proliferates and cannot now be avoided by the likes of Mr Al-Ghaili, we creative-minded people must keep on practicing creative thinking – despite the temptations of AI.

Still from Mr Al-Ghaili:

The repeated delegation of mental tasks to artificial intelligence leads to a decline in independent information evaluation and reflective problem-solving skills…

This can involve tools like calculators, smartphones, or even AI assistants. While offloading can improve efficiency and free up mental space for other tasks, over-reliance on it may hinder the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Excessive reliance on (AI) may lead to a decline in critical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and even creativity. To mitigate these risks, it's crucial to practice "cognitive hygiene." This involves consciously choosing when to engage AI and when to rely on your own cognitive processes.

Me:

“My BS Agriculture UPLB was all critical thinking. Creative thinking is God-given; artificial intelligence is man-made – we need both!”@517