Faculty Are First Responders in Averting an Epidemic of Intellectual Atrophy

This year, for the first time in history, college seniors will graduate never having experienced a full semester without generative AI. The technology certainly has its many benefits, but when it replaces the mental struggles of learning, students lose something irreplaceable: the slow, difficult work that builds expertise and strengthens critical thinking.

As education experts from two California State University (CSU) campuses, we view overreliance on AI in much the same way as our public health colleagues view students’ academically motivated misuse of stimulants. Indeed, we view America’s educational institutions as key to preventing a potential epidemic of intellectual atrophy. Instead of making faculty obsolete, AI has intensified the need for their expertise and guidance. Like vaccines or exercise, authentic intellectual struggle, which well-prepared teachers foster, is preventative medicine for the mind.