Sunday Times 2
Is intellectualism heading for its end with the advent of AI?
View(s):By R M Dhanushka Surendra
In the modern era’s context, Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT, Grammarly, and numerous others have redefined and shifted how we learn, work, and create. These tools, celebrated for their ability to simplify complex tasks and enhance efficiency, have become deeply integrated into educational and professional systems.
Underneath their convenience lies a deep, profound concern: Are they unintentionally signalling the beginning of a decrease in intellectual pursuits? This question becomes even more pressing as we witness students, from schoolchildren to university scholars, increasingly depending on these tools at the cost of their own cognitive and creative development.
The most serious concern is the gradual fading of fundamental intellectual practices such as critical thinking, in-depth research, and creativity
This is not limited merely to science students; it has impacted the arts, social sciences, and everywhere. Earlier, if you wanted to create a photo or visual, you needed to use photo-editing software, but AI has overpowered, and you can get the task done within seconds, but the generated art or the video is not yours; it’s AI’s. So what happens to the creativity and imagination of the younger generation?
The most serious concern is the gradual fading of fundamental intellectual practices such as critical thinking, in-depth research, and creativity. Students now have instant access to pre-formulated answers, ready-to-use templates, and polished outputs that diminish the need for mental effort. Instead of grappling with ideas, analysing problems, or forming their own perspectives, many learners are satisfied with simply observing or absorbing AI-generated content without actively engaging with it.
A good example is if you want to write an essay, you just need to give the points, or so-called prompting, properly. The AI will generate the essay with the comprehension level required, and there are some paraphrasing tools; you can make it your own with the aid of that.
But the creativity is gone. If intellectual rigour gives way to mere consumption, we risk raising a generation that lacks the cognitive skills necessary to address complex global challenges through research as done in the past. You will experience this within the next few decades in a disastrous way, if it is not addressed.
Moreover, the widespread use of AI tools has brought into question the very authenticity of academic work. Assignments, essays, and even entire research projects can now be generated with minimal effort, leaving educators struggling to differentiate between genuine student effort and machine-produced content. This issue especially arises in distance learning, which is most popular now, where the lack of in-person supervision yields the problem of academic dishonesty. As technology advances, conventional approaches to identifying plagiarism and ensuring originality are falling short.
The academic community now faces critical issues, struggling to uphold integrity and promote authentic learning in an era dominated by AI. Traditional plagiarism detection software should be revisited and enhanced to address the issues, which means, technically, algorithms used in plagiarism need to be changed significantly.
The creativity crisis
The concern extends beyond academia to the very essence of intellectualism. Throughout history, great thinkers and creators have thrived on struggle—the painstaking process of inquiry, experimentation, and reflection that leads to groundbreaking ideas. Today, however, that struggle is often replaced by instant solutions offered by AI.
This shift has profound implications for creativity. The moment students start to let AI think for them, they lose the opportunity to develop their creative capacities. In the long run, this will lead to a drop in the quality of research and innovation, with fewer novel ideas and solutions emerging to address the world’s pressing issues. On the other hand, in academia, it’s hard to detect AI-generated productions as there are many paraphrasing tools developed and some tools like “AI Humanizer” can convert AI-generated text to appear as though it was developed by a human being.
Reflect on how this trend affects problem-solving. No complex challenges can be solved without profound contextual understanding, critical evaluation of information, and the capability to synthesise different standpoints—machines cannot simply do it. The more students depend on AI, however, the weaker their skills in independent thinking.
This is also, for instance, the basis of why young academics generate less and less original work, which increasingly hangs from secondary sources or the most superficially read summaries thrown off by AI rather than primary source immersion. The end product is a superficial form of learning, one in which speed and convenience override substantial thought and innovation.
The implications are huge. We risk living in a world where, at best, critical challenges that demand depth and innovation—such issues as climate change, geopolitical conflict, or public health crises—are addressed shallowly rather than deeply. It was done in the past. Moreover, greater reliance on AI may serve to widen the gap between those who use these tools responsibly and those who do not, leading to new inequities in education and employment. If left unchecked, this could be the start of the end of intellectualism, as we know it. Furthermore, generative AI tools are vastly based on content available on the World Wide Web (www) and reliability is questionable as not everything on WWW is factual.
Reimagining academia
Faced with these challenges, academia must urgently adapt to safeguard intellectual development. One immediate solution is the reintroduction of traditional assessment methods such as paper-based exams and supervised assignments. These methods may seem outdated, but they provide authenticity and rigour that AI tasks cannot. By making students show their knowledge and skills in controlled settings, educators can ensure grades truly reflect effort and understanding.
However, the old ways are not the solution either. The academic community should also be open to the potential of AI while mitigating its risks. This could be done through the inclusion of ethical AI education in the curriculum, legal aspects, and teaching students not only how to use these tools but also how to critically evaluate their outputs. By helping students understand the powers and limitations of AI, educators can encourage students to view these tools as aids to their own intellectual development, rather than as its replacement. Academic institutions must invest in sophisticated AI detection tools that identify and address misuse to ensure assignments and projects reflect original thought.
Another important reform to consider is the fostering of creativity and independent research. Schools and universities should also be considering the promotion of open-ended projects and other learning activities across disciplines that spur students into new explorations or the solution of real problems. Such skills will not only help the learners become more creative but will also prepare them for a quick-paced environment. By emphasising the process of learning over the product, educators can help students develop the critical thinking and problem-solving skills they need to thrive in the 21st century. If these concerns are not addressed properly, the world will be falling apart and it is inevitable.
A balanced future
It’s not about rejecting AI, but about finding a balance between progress in technology and staying true to ethical principles. AI can improve learning, make information accessible to everyone, and help students tackle difficult problems more effectively. But its benefits have to be responsibly harvested. Society needs to regard creativity, originality, and critical thinking as higher than convenience, and institutions must build an environment for such values to flourish.
The responsibility for shaping this future lies with all of us: educators, policymakers, parents, and students. Together, we must recognise that intellectualism is not an outdated ideal but a vital foundation for progress. By encouraging curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking, we can make sure AI enhances rather than harms the human intellect. If we succeed, the future won’t be the end of intellectualism but the start of a new era of enlightened, responsible, and innovative thinking. Computer technology and AI have become part of our lives; we cannot omit them, and omission is impossible. We need to find ways to live with it for the betterment of the future world.
(The writer is a senior lecturer in IT/attorney at law, School of Computing, Universal College Lanka (UCL)
Sri Jayawardanapura.)