Students Are Onto the Real Costs of AI
The backlash against AI, particularly among young people, cannot be ignored. There were choruses of boos during college commencement speeches about AI, from the University of Central Florida (the real estate executive Gloria Caulfield’s “A.I. capabilities are in the palm of our hands”) to the University of Arizona (former chief executive of Google Eric Schmidt’s “Whatever path you choose, A.I. will become part of how work is done.”).
The April 2026 Gallup and Walton Family Foundation survey of young people from age 14 through 29 confirmed it: while the use of AI has remained consistent, enthusiasm towards it has plummeted, and anger and disgust have gone up. And with good reason.
If their elders too often ignore the human causes of climate change, students face its dire effects. Young people understand that AI imposes a massive environmental cost. Data centers are gobbling up land and resources. Energy consumption to support these technologies is skyrocketing, compounding an already massive carbon footprint, while greenhouse gas emissions surge. And water, required to keep vast fields of servers from overheating, is being severely depleted.
Even students who are motivated to swear off AI for ethical and environmental reasons find they’re being pressured by their universities to use it. One popular online comment to a NY Times article regarding the Gallup study was from ‘Chas’ in Atlanta, “For young people, AI is as much a competitor as an assistant. They can't ignore it because other people will use it and they need to watch their backs so they don't get left behind.” Students list their fears and concerns regarding the use of AI in college: the stress and confusion of inconsistent and unclear guidelines for the use of AI that vary from class to class, from assignment to assignment; the fact that professors often use AI for course materials and grading while students are often prohibited from using the same tools; students who challenge themselves and work without the aid of AI find themselves at a disadvantage against those who do—and have even found their original and painstakingly crafted projects flagged by AI detectors as being AI-generated.
Not surprisingly, the majority of recent college graduates see AI as an immediate threat to their job prospects. AI can cull their job applications before a human sets eyes on them. It is fast replacing entry-level positions and is transforming job profiles. Students feel pressure to find AI-proof careers, even though very few exist.
But there is a more fundamental fear that young people face: that of their cognition withering and their abilities degrading from lack of use. Forty-two percent of young adults surveyed in the Gallup study said they thought AI would harm their critical thinking skills. Based on their personal interactions with AI, they understand how it risks stunting their intellectual growth and their ability to reason and think analytically and creatively.
Recent reports from the Brookings Institution and other organizations point out that younger, developing brains are most vulnerable to AI dependence: children can quickly find AI-generated answers instead of taking the time to learn the mental steps needed to build their cognition. Studies in higher education found that students who rely on Large Language Models (LLMs) to complete writing and research assignments show poorer reasoning and analytical skills. Assisted by AI, students tend to focus on a narrower set of ideas and produce more superficial analyses. And an MIT study demonstrated that those heavily dependent on AI experienced significantly lower brain connectivity and weaker information recall than those who did not use it.
AI offers astounding benefits; at the same time, it presents grave risks to society. The breakneck speed of development requires immediate focus from governments to address risks. Public policy has an important role. But we as individuals have to take personal responsibility as well. We know the unhealthiness of spending too much of our time passively, of being led by impulse and constant distraction. As human beings, we enjoy exercising our unique skills. We want to apply ourselves and do things well, and we find meaning in the process. This is where education comes in.
In our studies and in our jobs, it’s important to stay sensitive to our own well-being — and part of this care is to avoid AI shortcuts that limit our growth and understanding. By being clear-sighted about the risks of AI and using it thoughtfully, we can continue to develop the skills we need for lifelong learning, to be inventive and resilient. If we want to exercise our creativity, we have to offer ourselves the freedom to explore on our own, beyond the predictability of AI. All our time and practice, all our focused commitment to our work, will be amply rewarded with accomplishments we can truly call our own.
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