AI - A help or a hinderance to learning?

Enter this question into a chat gap app and you get the following:

As an AI assistant, I can provide information and resources to support children's learning. Whether I help or hinder their learning depends on how I am utilized and the context in which I am used. If I am employed in a responsible and thoughtful manner, I can definitely provide assistance and enhance their educational experience. However, if I am solely relied upon for answers without encouraging critical thinking or independent problem-solving skills, I may hinder their learning. Ultimately, it is important for parents and educators to strike a balance and use me as a tool to supplement and enrich children's learning experiences.

The answer therefore is a clear and unambiguous…’it depends’. On reflection though this is entirely accurate. If pupils and students are simply using the opportunities offered by mechanical learning, as AI was previously known, to complete a task that should have required hours of research and writing, in just a few minutes: then clearly it is hindering their learning process. However, like the dawn of the internet from which AI has evolved, used well it enables learners to develop and deepen their understanding of topics and write with greater depth than ever before.

As a tutor, I employ AI in essay writing tasks, to generate a range of outline answers. This affords the student and I a chance to discuss a far wider range of approaches to questions and to cover more example questions per session. It is proving hugely beneficial!

“If I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Isaac Newton, 1675. This ultimate learning metaphor, to me clearly defines the benefits that AI will bring to learning, by ensuring that the modern pupils have almost nothing else but to build on the knowledge that has gone before them.