AI Is Everywhere, But Is It Making the Next Generation Weaker Thinkers?
Staff Writer • 2025-05-19
As AI tools flood classrooms, experts warn we're raising a generation that can’t think for itself. From spelling assignments to math problems, kids today have AI at their fingertips before they even understand what an algorithm is. While tech optimists celebrate this as progress, not everyone is convinced this digital acceleration is actually helping. In fact, according to Dr. Akli Adjaoute—AI entrepreneur, professor, and returning guest on the Stonks Go Moon Podcast—we may be quietly raising a generation that’s losing the ability to think for themselves. “The problem is when people stop trusting their own ability to think,” Dr. Adjaoute said. “If every answer comes from AI, what happens when AI is wrong—or worse, when it has no answer at all?” The Uncomfortable Process of Learning Is Being Outsourced Adjaoute, who previously led AI programs in France and the U.S., says the biggest threat isn’t AI itself—but how it's being used. He recalled a recent experience at a farmers’ market when a teenage cashier couldn’t calculate basic change without a calculator. “She told me they don’t teach them to calculate in school anymore—they just use machines,” he said. It’s a small example, but a telling one. “Real intelligence isn’t found in the answer,” Adjaoute argues. “It’s found in the struggle to figure it out.” He likens learning to a mental gym workout—uncomfortable, yes, but necessary for building cognitive "muscle." And when kids turn to AI for every answer, they skip that essential process entirely. Flattening Creativity and Killing Curiosity There’s also a bigger risk at play: the homogenization of thought. AI, by design, is trained on existing data. It generates output based on what already exists, not what could be. “Blending things together doesn’t mean it’s innovative,” Adjaoute said. “If everything starts to look the same, sound the same, and feel the same—what happens to true creativity?” It’s a chilling prospect. If AI is allowed to replace the messy, uncertain process of discovery with polished, prepackaged answers, Adjaoute fears we’ll lose the very thing that drives human progress: curiosity. “Without imagination, without debate, without struggle—there is no innovation,” he warned. A Personal Story of Innovation Born From Nothing Adjaoute knows this firsthand. Growing up poor, he sold bread with his brother at just seven years old. Later, as a minority entrepreneur in France’s AI sector, he faced rejection and doubt at every turn. “No one believed in me. I had no connections, no support,” he said. “The only reason I succeeded was because I built something that didn’t exist—something no one else had thought of.” That kind of innovation, he argues, doesn’t come from convenience. It comes from perseverance, failure, and the kind of imaginative problem-solving that AI can never replicate. How Parents and Educators Can Push Back So, what can parents and educators do in an AI-saturated world? According to Adjaoute, it starts with encouraging critical thinking and curiosity. That means letting kids struggle with puzzles, ask “why” and “what if,” and engage in debate. Most importantly, it means fostering the joy of discovery—something Adjaoute witnessed in Rocco’s story about his own son assembling furniture like a giant Lego set. “That moment of struggle followed by success—that’s the joy AI will never give you,” Adjaoute said. Because in the end, the future won’t belong to the best prompt engineers. It will belong to those who still know how to think for themselves.
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