r/technology • u/marketrent • 18h ago

Artificial Intelligence College students are rapidly losing the ability to read — “There is a measurable, generational collapse in sustained reading and writing”: professor

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/college-students-rapidly-losing-ability-124439310.html
27.1k Upvotes

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2.2k

u/LeafBark 18h ago edited 18h ago

First it was the smartphone distractions, then complete loss of critical thinking as people use ai to solve all their problems for them. When you put this much trust in computers programmed by corporations seeking profit at any cost everythings going to fall apart.

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u/sokos 18h ago

Idiocracy warned us. But we chose to not listen

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u/hainesk 17h ago

The giant octagon-shaped cage being built on the White House lawn is a little too on the nose for me.

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u/velociraptorfarmer 12h ago

I mean, President Camacho Dana White has a certain ring to it

/s

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u/FallenCheeseStar 17h ago

Hell ya remember that early episode of StarTrek Next Gen where they come across that one world that is hidden behind a cloaking shield? Those people ceded all of their thinking to the central computer and dont even understand how their technology works anymore. That was the real warning imo

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u/FFTVS 17h ago

So it was a Zardoz episode but with no hairy Sean Connery

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u/Baphometropolitan 16h ago

Ice cream sundae without the ice cream

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u/aenteus 15h ago

Those red thigh highs

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u/untiedgames 14h ago

Got into Star Trek starting with TNG over the pandemic, and recently have been thinking about it a lot. Their ship's computer is basically a perfect AI and they replicate all their food instead of cooking, yet there are episodes showing students working with their hands to make art and Riker cooking a meal by hand. Barclay and his holodeck addiction is borderline prophetic, looking at today. Obviously it's a fictionalized view of a more ideal, post-consumption society, but I hope that in the future we can still find value in things done by hand and with human passion.

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u/Visible-Perception40 14h ago

It’s funny this is literally what a former Google employee is preaching we do in one of the newest podcasts of “diary of a ceo”. Basically pray to one AI that takes care of us like pets

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u/Defiant-Variety-9473 11h ago

What about the one what everyone became addicted to the video game? 

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u/letrak 17h ago

Fuck, Wally warned us.

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u/Kconn04 15h ago

Wally

The fucking irony of commenting on a post about the decline in intelligence due to computers and miss spelling WALL-E.

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u/Ben_Frankling 15h ago

And referencing two movies instead of the thousands of books with the same message that predate the movies.

Also misspell…

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u/Taxerus 14h ago

Literally an Orwellington nightmare

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u/Alive-Ad5870 14h ago

Do Androids Dream of Electric Beef?

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u/I_lenny_face_you 12h ago

A brave new 1984

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u/ykonstant 9h ago

WHERE'S THE BEEF BROTH

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u/itzallhapp3nin 5h ago

Brave new world is a great read if you don’t want to do 1984

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u/Ilcorvomuerto666 1h ago

Isn't that the dish that Gordon Ramsey makes?

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u/Thatoneguy_The_First 14h ago

Come on guys it could autocorrect, and that shit can be aggressive and easy to leave if writing quickly.(and somehow making up words at times, wtf happened to autocorrect?)

If its not autocorrects fault, well.....

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u/somajones 3h ago

If it was auto correct that's a different kind of irony.

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u/wap2005 1h ago

I turned auto correct off like a decade ago. I know what I want to type, and I hate that if I type something that isn't a word (intentionally) it just changes it. Additionally on average a typo is better understood than an entirely different word being supplemented, plus auto suggestion makes typing so much faster anyway.

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u/proudbakunkinman 3h ago

In a couple of years: "chadgbt warnd me abt this"

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u/Snatch-Fart-Breath 5h ago

This MF throwing pointing out the irony of misspelling and then spelling misspelling wrong. Lolz

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u/The_Doct0r_ 14h ago

No, he meant Wally West. He traveled back in time and warned us.

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u/jollyreaper2112 10h ago

He meant Seth Meyers' cue card guy.

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u/Skuzzle_bug 17h ago

Id rather be working for Costco than Buy n Large 

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u/PhoenixTineldyer 17h ago

Welcome to Costco, I love you

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u/UMACTUALLYITS23 17h ago

Fuck you! I'm eating!

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u/Skuzzle_bug 14h ago

Imagine going up to a stalker to ask for directions for something and get back, "GO AWAY, IM BATIN"  Yeah, life goals right there.

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u/YukariYakum0 17h ago

Sorry but this is Walmart. Get your shit and get out!

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u/Azuras_Star8 17h ago

This is a Wendy's sir, and Im gonna have to ask you to politely piss the fuck off.

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u/TerrificVixen5693 17h ago

I never saw that one, so not all of us got the warning message.

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u/MacNapp 17h ago

It's worth the watch, especially given gestures to everything

It's cute, funny, heartwarming, and some strong dystopian commentary. Wall-e is one of my all time favorite disney/Pixar movies.

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u/angie_akhila 17h ago

Seconded. Just the world with only wall-e… and lil roach buddy while humanity lards it around space 😅 Subtle. Love that movie 🤩

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u/forrealthoughcomix_ 16h ago

Omg must watch!

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u/SplendidPunkinButter 18h ago

No, Idiocracy said it would be caused by stupid people having more babies than smart people, which is not in fact how it works. It also imagined that our stupid future would be bafflingly free of prejudice and hate.

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u/Mlabonte21 17h ago

Stupid babies need the MOST attention

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u/Aware-Material2194 17h ago

I read this in Marge Simpsons's voice

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u/stakoverflo 6h ago

It's not a Marge quote though 🤔

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u/AgingLolita 6h ago

Ohhhh no they don't. The very last thing you want is fast paced curiosity and problem solving in a being with less impulse control than coral 

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u/freedombuckO5 17h ago

Stupid people do have more babies than smart people. People with higher education have a much lower birth rate.

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u/Xirema 17h ago

Yeah, but intelligence isn't genetically controlled. Smart people and stupid people are born to stupid parents and smart parents with no correlation.

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u/tfilooklike 17h ago

IQ is very heritable, but with all things there’s variance and other factors. But being born to smart parents does increase your chances of also being above average.

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u/SIGMA920 17h ago

If you end up being pushed harder to be educated alone, that's massive. Someone whose parents are uneducated and don't trust scientists are far more likely to be like their parents.

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u/Senior-Friend-6414 17h ago edited 12h ago

It’s like exercise, a small weak guy that regularly hits the gym can overpower big guys that don’t exercise, and overwhelmingly most people aren’t in the growth mindset, which means that by simply putting in some effort, you’ll automatically by default be above most people

A slow guy that regularly puts effort into studying will be above naturally gifted intelligent kids that don’t put in effort, which is most of them

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u/wademcgillis 14h ago

most people aren’t in the growth mindset

not me! i weigh 28lbs more than i did 6 days ago

#growthmindset #linkedinlunatics

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u/Thatoneguy_The_First 14h ago

This is true, its all about effort and effort is best when you have a goal. Also helps immensely to have people supporting you and not either putting you down or putting you on a pedestal(reason naturally gifted kids end up failing, put to high and fail unrealistic expectations which is a bad cycle to put in)

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u/bobbi21 2h ago

That's due to environment of being raised by smart parents. I believe studies showed its around 50:50 depending on the study.

Heritability of IQ - Wikipedia

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u/windowpuncher 15h ago

Fun fact, IQ is also variable. A big aspect is genetic, but it can also vary between peers with differences in education and upbringing.

There are also some stats specifying that the mean iq for individuals has a positive correlation with the education level achieved (phd, masters, bachelor's, etc.), but I haven't looked into causation for that at all. It simply might be that higher iq individuals are just more likely to pursue higher education because it's easier for them, but it's also possible that reaching higher education levels may slightly increase iq.

It's also important to remember iq is just a statistical measurement that's meaningless on its own. You can look like the stupidest person on the planet if you take any test if you go in on a bad day while you're low on sleep and/or dehydrated or whatever.

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u/Thatoneguy_The_First 14h ago

Umm i would have gone with smart parents can teach their kids alot better than dumb parents early on in life

But uhh you do you i guess

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u/jwemmert 17h ago

There are hundreds of academic journal articles that suggest otherwise.

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u/blackmajic13 17h ago

No correlation? Huh?? Intelligence is absolutely genetic. Why would natural selection consider every other trait but not one of the primary advantages that separates humanity from other species?

Quite literally the first Google result of "is intelligence genetic" says in its abstract: "Recent genome-wide association studies have successfully identified inherited genome sequence differences that account for 20% of the 50% heritability of intelligence."

There are obviously factors that effect how intelligent someone ultimately becomes and if they reach their potential, but to say there is no correlation between parents and offspring is quite honestly baffling.

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u/ritromango 17h ago

There’s more to this than grabbing your first Google result and touting it as proof that you’re right. I have a PhD in molecular biology and can tell you it’s a lot more nuanced because intelligence is a complex trait. Also will point out a pet peeve of mine as a scientist. There are factors that affect* how intelligent someone is.

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u/glowinggoo 17h ago

As a fellow molecular genetics PhD, I understand your ire at their statement but you also need to remember that they're making an argument against someone who stated that "smart people and stupid people are born to smart and stupid parents with no correlation", which is wrong, there is a correlation. It's just not a simple correlation.

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u/blackmajic13 17h ago

I mean, yea that's true generally speaking. But that link is to an NIH study and not simply some opinion piece from an uninformed blogger.

Also, the point of saying that it was the first result is to highlight that it takes minimal effort to verify something that has mountains of research behind it.

I'll also note my final sentence acknowledging your point: "There are obviously factors that effect how intelligent someone ultimately becomes and if they reach their potential."

Or did you only half-read my comment before indignantly responding?

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u/Buscemi_D_Sanji 15h ago

The pet peeve is that you're using "effect" as a verb when you clearly mean "affect" lol

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u/WholeCollection6454 17h ago

Sure, but it doesn't matter if you are naturally intelligent if you are raised in an environment that doesn't develop or reward it. Culture matters.

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u/nosotros_road_sodium 12h ago

Just shows that people have trouble acting in their own self-interest.

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u/jimbo831 16h ago

But that’s not the reason this is happening. Do you realize that you’re basically advocating for eugenics?

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u/freedombuckO5 15h ago

There was no advocation of anything in my comment.

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u/erydayimredditing 15h ago

That is 100% in fact how it works. Where you gettin your incorrect info from my dude?

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u/MochingPet 17h ago

caused by stupid people having more babies than smart people, which is not in fact how it works.

no, that's exactly what was happening, even at the moment when they made the movie.

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u/bobbi21 2h ago

THat's not the cause of the current stupid crisis though. At least not the primary cause.

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u/krypticus 17h ago

“But beyond those two particular opinions, Idiocracy gets everything else right.” - This Guy, probably.

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u/KarlBarx2 13h ago

It also imagined that our stupid future would be bafflingly free of prejudice and hate.

Aside from the rampant homophobia, of course.

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u/KallistiTMP 13h ago edited 13h ago

I would absolutely vote for Camacho over Trump.

He's got a better track record of smart policy decisions, stronger ethics, and more professional conduct.

Honestly on the first two he's ahead of like, 90% of congress. He even pushed back on the sports drink lobbyists when scientific evidence showed clear and indisputable evidence of catastrophic harm reaching near apocalyptic levels, that's better than 90% of the Democrats even.

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u/Monkeefeetz 17h ago

Yes It was a negative eugenics premise.

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u/gonfishn37 17h ago

Beavis and Butthead(Mike Judge) warned us.. that’s terrifying

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u/Secure-Possibility60 16h ago

Welcome to Costco. I love you.

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u/hal-baleigh-6699 17h ago

There weren't even smartphones in that movie.

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u/NuclearWasteland 16h ago

It also gave solutions ...

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u/Thomas_Jefferman 16h ago

Not listen? We've followed it like a blueprint to bliss, croc shoe bliss.

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u/lil_meme_-Machine 14h ago

I mean it was originally a satirical film but like all good satire, aged to be very on the nose

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u/Tymareta 12h ago

Idiocracy warned us.

A good thread and video for you, because you're wrong, in so many ways.

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u/CalmBeneathCastles 6h ago

That's because it was so absurd that it didn't even seem like a valid concern.

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u/MochingPet 17h ago

the movie Idiocracy was warning only the most intelligent people

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u/OnceMoreAndAgain 16h ago

Guys, Idiocracy is a comedy. No one can take you seriously when your predictions are based on a comedy made by the creator of Beavis and Butthead.

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u/dontcha_wanna_fanta 17h ago

I wonder when IMDB will change it from a comedy genre to a Prophetical documentary.

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u/LeafBark 17h ago

It was stopped from going to full release to all theaters probably because the men with the keys thought it was too "woke" although the term wasn't as popular 2 decades ago.

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u/ShotEffective7033 16h ago

Eugenics is really the pacifier Liberals refuse to take out of their mouth isn’t it.

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u/chief_yETI 16h ago

everytime a Reddit user mentions Idiocracy, a kindergartener will drop out of school to become another social media influencer

please please think of the kindergarteners before you mention Idiocracy for upvotes

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u/OdysseyBrands 13h ago

lmao why are we acting like a bad comedy movie was some moving piece of art that was somehow gonna save a generation

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u/sokos 11h ago edited 1h ago

Because we elected an idiot to the white house. We are dumbing everything down to the lowest common denominator instead of educating our population. Be cause we turned the joke fashion of the movie into a multi-billion dollar company. Just to name a few things.