Premature Dependence on AI May Reduce Opportunities for Children to Practise the Very Cognitive and Social Skills They Need to Develop

Marcia Banks, former classroom teacher, retired vice principal, continuing as Odyssey of the Mind association director for Switzerland, OotM coach

A recent online conversation with Abigail Norfleet James, PhD. about AI and the developing brain prompted me to consider whether we are introducing artificial intelligence into children’s education before they have acquired the skills and dispositions necessary to think independently. To use technology to perform a skill we have already developed is very different from using technology to replace the experience of developing that skill.

This distinction matters because learning requires effort, and sometimes considerable productive struggle, appropriately supported by teachers. It is during this process of struggling, of making sense of the material, where important learning takes place. The child draws on previous knowledge, considers possibilities, tests ideas, practices, and decides what to do when something does not work. Although the effort involved may slow immediate progress, it strengthens understanding and contributes to long-term learning.

What happens when AI removes that struggle before the child has benefited from the productive struggle?

The concern is that AI may allow children from early years into adolescence to bypass the very mental processes through which they develop the capacity to learn essential cognitive and social processing skills. Foundational skills provide the building blocks for more advanced thinking. Children should still learn how to do arithmetic by hand despite having easy access to calculators because understanding mathematical principles is essential to more sophisticated reasoning. Similarly, learning to code develops logical thinking, the ability to break problems into manageable steps and the capacity to work through complex challenges, even as AI increasingly performs coding tasks. There is a broader principle in play: Children need to develop essential habits of mind before relying on technology to perform those mental tasks for them.

The developing adolescent brain deserves particular attention.

During adolescence, the brain undergoes significant changes, with interconnected systems following different developmental trajectories. The neural networks involved in planning, self-regulation, evaluating consequences and independent decision-making continue to develop and become more efficient, while systems involved in emotion, motivation and reward are particularly responsive. This helps explain why adolescents may be especially sensitive to immediate rewards, novelty and social approval while still developing their capacity for independent judgment.

Now consider what happens when AI enters the learning process during this important period of brain development. If AI provides immediate answers and removes the need for reflection, experimentation and independent decision-making, might children miss opportunities to practise and strengthen these developing capacities?

We do not yet know the long-term neurological consequences of extensive AI use during childhood and adolescence but we have good reasons to protect the experiences that support healthy cognitive development.

What Happens When Children No Longer Need to Struggle or Fail?

Learning to persevere through difficulty does more than strengthen cognitive skills. It also helps children develop resilience, flexibility and confidence in their own abilities. These are not simply questions about academic achievement. They concern the development of habits and dispositions that children will need throughout their lives. The concern is that if AI can provide immediate solutions, this potentially removes the opportunities for children to work through the difficulties themselves.

Yet, AI can also offer guidance that helps them continue thinking. The essential distinction is between assistance that supports the learning process and assistance that replaces it.

What Happens to Original Thought?

The willingness to struggle, experiment and persist through uncertainty is also central to creativity. Original ideas rarely emerge fully formed; they develop as children explore possibilities, make unexpected connections and discover what works and what does not.

Open-ended challenges provide precisely these opportunities. Children must generate possibilities, evaluate alternatives, work within constraints and revise ideas that do not succeed. In doing so, they discover not only how to solve problems, but also that their own ideas are worth exploring.

Indeed, AI can generate the stories, the artwork, the designs and possible solutions. Used thoughtfully, these capabilities can stimulate imagination. But when AI provides the ideas before children have attempted to develop their own, an essential part of the creative process may be bypassed.

Are We Overlooking Social and Emotional Development?

Just as creativity develops through exploration and experimentation, children’s thinking is also shaped through their interactions with others. Children learn to reason, question and reconsider their ideas not only through individual effort, but also through their interactions with others. Conversations, disagreements, collaborative problem-solving and shared experiences require children to listen, explain their thinking, consider different perspectives and negotiate solutions.

These experiences contribute to emotional development. Children learn to recognize how others feel, interpret facial expressions and body language, respond with empathy and manage the frustrations that naturally arise when people work together.

We should therefore ask whether increasing reliance on AI and excessive screen time may displace some of the important face-to-face interactions, independent play and shared experiences through which these essential social skills develop.

Beyond its role in academic learning, AI is becoming a source of companionship and emotional support for some young people, raising additional developmental questions that I explored in an earlier article, <em>AI Chatbots and Adolescent Mental Health</em>.

What Might This Mean for the Adults These Children Become?

The habits children develop during their early years and adolescence influence how they approach challenges, relationships and decisions throughout their lives. If children grow accustomed to relying on AI to generate ideas, evaluate information and make decisions, will they develop the confidence and intellectual independence to challenge the answers they are given? Could repeated dependence on AI contribute to adults who are less comfortable with uncertainty, less willing to question assumptions or less confident in their ability to solve unfamiliar problems?

We do not yet have sufficient long-term research to answer these questions. It would be premature to conclude that AI will necessarily produce these outcomes. Nevertheless, the absence of conclusive evidence of harm should not prevent us from examining what developmental experiences may be diminished or displaced.

What Are the Benefits of AI in Early Years, Primary and Middle School Education?

Recognizing these developmental concerns does not mean rejecting AI in education. The challenge is to identify where it can genuinely support learning without replacing the experiences through which children develop essential skills.

Used appropriately, AI has the potential to improve learning and provide valuable support for both teachers and students.

For teachers, AI can assist in differentiating instruction, adapting explanations, preparing learning materials and identifying alternative approaches for students who need additional support. It can help teachers respond to the different learning needs within a classroom while leaving the responsibility for instruction, assessment and professional judgment with the teacher.

It may be particularly valuable for children with learning differences, offering accessible formats, speech-to-text tools, language assistance and opportunities to practise skills at an appropriate pace.

For younger children, carefully designed, adult-guided AI activities may support language development, storytelling, curiosity and exploration. However, these experiences should complement, rather than replace, hands-on learning, imaginative play, reading and interaction with adults and peers.

For older students, AI can assist in brainstorming after students have explored their own ideas, creating, organizing, summarizing, and synthesizing information, and offering resources and solutions for challenging problems. In these circumstances, AI can become a tool for extending thinking rather than replacing it.

However, for AI to become a tool that extends rather than replaces thinking, students must also understand its limitations. This makes AI literacy an essential part of education. Children need to understand that AI-generated information can be inaccurate, misleading or biased. They need to learn how to question AI responses, verify information and recognize that convincing language is not necessarily evidence of truth.

There is another subtle danger to consider. AI can generate convincing explanations even when the information it provides is inaccurate or entirely fabricated, a phenomenon known as “hallucination.” Although AI systems can be designed to check information against external sources, their confident language is not a guarantee of accuracy. They do not exercise human judgment or understand truth in the way people do. This makes it especially important for children to develop the knowledge and critical-thinking skills needed to evaluate AI-generated information rather than simply accept it.

Concerns about excessive reliance on AI are no longer confined to educational research. In an October 2026 article in The New York Times, journalist Yan Zhuang describes how China, despite actively promoting artificial intelligence, is beginning to confront the consequences of its overuse. Reports of people following inaccurate AI-generated advice have prompted calls for greater AI literacy and critical thinking. The lesson for education is relevant: knowing how to use AI is not the same as knowing how to question it. Children need to develop the knowledge, reasoning skills and confidence to evaluate information before becoming accustomed to accepting ready-made answers.

What Is Our Responsibility as Educators and Parents?

Educators and parents should ensure that the students develop the intellectual and emotional capacities that allow them to use AI wisely, critically and independently. Educators have the skills to leverage AI in appropriate ways and ensure that the use of AI does not override processes necessary for students to learn foundational skills.

An impressive finished product is not necessarily evidence of meaningful learning. What matters is not only what a child produces, but the thinking, exploration and understanding that went into producing it.

The question is not whether AI belongs in education but how and when it should be introduced. We must ensure that its use strengthens rather than bypasses the cognitive, creative, and social processes through which children learn and develop. This calls for thoughtful decisions about when AI can support learning and when children need the opportunity to think, struggle, question and discover for themselves.

Before we ask what AI can do for children, we must ask what children need to learn to do for themselves.

Acknowledgment

This article grew out of a recent online conversation with Abigail Norfleet James, Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, Gendered Education Consultant, author and speaker, whose insights into the developing adolescent brain, the importance of active learning, and the potential consequences of relying on technology for cognitive tasks prompted me to explore these questions about AI in education. I am grateful to her for helping to frame an issue that deserves careful consideration by educators and parents.

Sources

Zara Abrams. “What AI is doing to young brains: Psychologists are untangling how AI use may shape the next generation”, Monitor on Psychology, American Psychological Association, September 2026, p. 28.
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2026/09/ai-brain-development-youth

American Psychological Association. Artificial intelligence and adolescent well-being, health advisory.
https://www.apa.org/topics/artificial-intelligence-machine-learning/health-advisory-ai-adolescent-well-being

Yan Zhuang. “China’s push into A.I. has led to a problem: Too much usage”, The New York Times, October 2, 2026.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/world/asia/china-ai-overuse.html