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Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots has become rampant\u00a0among students<\/a>\u00a0in higher education.<\/p>\n While some might be\u00a0ambivalent about the impact of generative AI on higher education<\/a>, many instructors in the humanities\u00a0scramble to adapt their classes<\/a>\u00a0to the new reality and have declared a\u00a0crisis of their teaching model<\/a>.<\/p>\n Professors<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0students<\/a>\u00a0alike argue that unrestricted use of generative AI threatens the purpose of an education in disciplines like philosophy, history or literature. They say that, as a society, we should care about this loss of intellectual competencies.<\/p>\n But why is it important that traditional learning not become obsolete \u2014\u00a0as some predict<\/a>?<\/p>\n Today, when\u00a0corrupt leaders<\/a>\u00a0promote AI development,\u00a0AI reflects repressive political biases<\/a>. There are serious concerns about AI disinformation, so it\u2019s critical to consider the original purpose of modern universities.<\/p>\n I consider this question as a historian of philosophy who has examined how modern ideas have\u00a0intersected with democratic<\/a>\u00a0and fascist societies<\/a>.<\/p>\n The idea of the modern university emerged amid the\u00a0European Enlightenment<\/a>. Inspired by a new ideal of humanity focused on an individual\u2019s independence from authorities and traditions, philosophers such as\u00a0Wilhelm von Humboldt<\/a>,\u00a0Friedrich Schleiermacher<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel<\/a>\u00a0introduced education as the proper path to self-development.<\/p>\n The German term Bildung<\/em><\/a>\u00a0captures this broad understanding of the educational process, denoting the activity of shaping yourself according to your inner purpose.<\/p>\n For the philosophers of\u00a0Bildung<\/em>, self-development couldn\u2019t take place in isolation but required a community of equals where mutual recognition and critical engagement with each other unlocked everyone\u2019s potential.<\/p>\n They envisioned the university as a community of learners where teachers facilitate the self-development of students by supporting their critical faculties instead of adapting them to fulfil predetermined roles for society. They believed education should prepare for lifelong learning about the self and world.<\/p>\n It was Humboldt who turned these lofty ideals into concrete reforms,\u00a0laying the groundwork for the modern university<\/a>\u00a0and its research-led teaching model. For Humboldt, the realm of\u00a0Bildung<\/em>\u00a0had political significance.<\/p>\n Living under\u00a0Prussian absolutism<\/a>, he feared the\u00a0paternalism of the state<\/a>\u00a0that turned its citizens into loyal subjects under the pretence of furthering their spiritual and material welfare.<\/p>\n He was critical of the attempt of Frederick the Great, the Prussian king, to\u00a0regulate economic life and to control private consumption<\/a>. Humboldt saw such a concentration of power as a despotic tendency that all forms of government could succumb to, including oligarchy and democracy. He therefore insisted on spaces for individual expression and free association. Literary salons were the initial community space for\u00a0Bildung<\/em>, and were a model for the modern idea of universities.<\/p>\n Yet, as critical thinkers such as\u00a0Germaine de Sta\u00ebl<\/a>\u00a0have noted from early on, the Enlightenment betrayed\u00a0the universal aspiration of its ideals by restricting<\/a>\u00a0their application mostly to a certain class of white and male Europeans.<\/p>\n The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen from 1789<\/a>\u00a0restricted active citizenship to male property owners and did not abolish slavery. Advocacy for applying equal rights to all was soon taken up by members of oppressed groups to justify their emancipatory pursuits.<\/p>\n Early feminists in late 19th-century Germany, such as the philosopher and writer\u00a0Hedwig Dohm<\/a>, demanded access to educational institutions so that women could also \u201cbecome who they are<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n We find a similar battle cry in the United States, where writer and educator\u00a0Anna Julia Cooper<\/a>\u00a0regarded the higher education of Black women as a key step to social change.<\/p>\n Both point to thinkers outside the European canon of male authors that helped shape the idea of\u00a0Bildung<\/em>. Its emancipatory appeal should not surprise us, since a plausible definition of the main harm of oppression\u00a0is that it deprives individuals of the capacity to self-develop<\/a>\u00a0and to express shared experiences collectively. The opportunity to\u00a0develop one\u2019s capacities in accordance with one\u2019s true values<\/a>\u00a0is a key characteristic of a just society.<\/p>\n I believe that the idea of\u00a0Bildung<\/em> still captures the value of humanities education<\/a>. In-depth engagement with the complex manifestation of human cultures seen in philosophical ideas, forms of knowledge or literary texts fosters important skills necessary for self-development.<\/p>\n Students learn critical thinking, enabling them to question authorities and discern their own convictions from received values. They experience thinking as a process which takes time and demands the exploration of different points of view \u2014 similar to democratic decision-making.<\/p>\n Methods to understand others are therefore an important subject of the humanities. The humanities\u00a0nurture the ability to connect<\/a>\u00a0and to develop solidarity with each other.<\/p>\n The classroom itself is a space where students experience understanding as a collaborative process by discussing with their peers and the instructor.<\/p>\n Instructors must actualize high-level pedagogical goals by creating concrete exercises through which intellectual skills can be learned and practised.<\/p>\n Writing an essay<\/a>\u00a0has been the pinnacle of traditional humanities education, since it demands employing the full set of interpretative tools such as identifying sources, analyzing arguments, assessing claims and justifying evaluations independently. It also demands expressing oneself intellectually.<\/p>\n Basic analytic skills such as formulating an argument or giving an objection can be taught in class. But in-class assignments cannot replace pondering an issue over some time and expressing one\u2019s interpretation of it.<\/p>\n The\u00a0important exercise of individual study<\/a>\u00a0is deprived of its value when students use technological shortcuts to complete writing tasks. AI-driven chatbots undermine a key part of the learning process through which students improve their critical thinking. This happens through sustained engagement with complex issues, through which students grow by overcoming challenges and practising habits of thinking.<\/p>\n Empirical studies show the negative impact of delegating cognitive tasks to external aids, also called cognitive offloading<\/a>, on critical thinking skills. Cognitive offloading can have dire political consequences. While we do not live under absolutism anymore, the ugly\u00a0head of despotism raises its<\/a>\u00a0head again.<\/p>\n In the U.S., as seen recently in Donald Trump\u2019s second presidential inauguration, the\u00a0economic elite<\/a>\u00a0dominates the political system. Tech oligarchs have found a president who is using his vast powers to further\u00a0their interests<\/a>\u00a0and is prepared to do so without\u00a0checks and balances<\/a>.<\/p>\n More than ever, we need citizens who have learned to think for themselves and developed capacities for paying attention to and caring about complex challenges in our ever-changing world.<\/p>\n At their best, the humanities are a laboratory to cultivate essential skills for critically assessing the status quo and imagining better alternatives in both political and economic life.<\/p>\nIdeas informing the modern university<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Concern about concentration of power<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Women, Black philosophers shape ideals<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Understanding as a collaborative process<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Assessing claims, justifying evaluations<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Dangers of \u2018cognitive offloading\u2019<\/strong><\/h4>\n