Teacher Stunned After Student Argues That People Shouldn't Have To 'Think Anymore' Thanks To ChatGPT

There's no doubt that ChatGPT and similar tools are growing in relevance and application, and they're growing fast. The problem is that many people, especially younger individuals, seem to struggle with how much they should depend on the tools.

We already knew that ChatGPT could be a problem regarding critical thinking and creativity, so maybe we should have anticipated the mindsets that would develop, snubbing independent thinking when tools like ChatGPT are available.

But teacher and Redditor mobius_ posted in the "Teachers" subReddit, shocked by their student's shifting mindset.

The teacher wrote:

"[I had a] terrifying conversation in high school ninth-grade math today."

Redditor mobius_ explained:

"In the math world, we’ve been dealing with students using apps to generate ideas/answers, etc., for years."

"In my upper-level classes, I try to work with kids to help them either pick better resources to support learning or use it as a learning tool, not a completion tool."

"In the Freshman Algebra 1 course today, I have a student who will almost always ask how this applies to real life. Not in the typical 'I don’t want to learn this' way; he’s genuinely curious about applications."

"Another kid jumps in, not reading the conversation right, and says, 'I’m with ya, man… why do we really need to learn any of this? ChatGPT will just do it all way faster.'"

"I reply with my more standard answer of learning and building problem-solving skills and how that’s also an equally important part of my job: learning how to use our brains and make informed decisions."

The teacher was deeply concerned by the conversation.

"This kid answers back, not just trying to rage bait me, that he does not think that’s a legitimate thing that’s important in the world anymore due to ChatGPT. That all decision-making in the future will be done by AI, so why do we have to learn anything, and why do we have to think anymore?"

"I try to challenge/push back a little with how important it is at their age to learn how to use their brain. Same answer back."

"So finally, I propose, 'Okay, you’re working a job five years from now, and there is an intense situation where you need to make an urgent decision.'"

"The student said, 'I’d tell my boss I was going to use ChatGPT, and they’re going to be happy about it because that’s going to always make the right choices.'"

"Agh. This scares me."

Fellow Redditors urged the Original Poster (OP) to revisit this conversation and frame it a little differently.

"I would circle back to this and ask, 'Why does your boss even need you if you're just going to ask ChatGPT for the answer? Wouldn't he just fire you and use ChatGPT himself instead?'" - sorta_good_at_words

"What Redditor sorta_good_at_words said is what I tell my students. They respond well to this; it gives them a moment to pause and think."

"I frame it as if they won't even be needed in the future if they are just an AI promptor with no original thoughts or ideas. Not just being fired, but being totally non-existent in society." - Environman68

"'In the event of an apocalypse, do you want to be a survivor, building a new world, or one of the people who panics because they don't have ChatGPT telling them what to do?' You're teaching them valuable post-apocalyptic survival skills!" - PipsqueakPilot

"I don’t think a hypothetical about the collapse of society would really be useful in a debate about that because it wouldn’t reflect on actual real life. Yes, it’s possible, but the rebuilding of society would be done by the survivors after the majority of us starved to death or died to whatever caused the collapse."

"I had a student act this way once. My response was, 'If I were your boss, then why would I hire you and pay you a salary then? Wouldn't it save me a lot of money for me just to fire you and get me a $20 a month GPT subscription? Why do I want you around if you can't think better than a program that doesn't even think?' All rage baiting and will to argue lost." - ScreamSalvation

"I remind my students that rich people are not investing in AI so that they can pay you more. If the only skills you have are the ones that can be done by AI, you will have a hard time finding a job."

"Also, language models like ChatGPT make plenty of mistakes in doing and explaining math. I know they'll get better, though." - chrisdub84

Others pointed out the importance of teaching students how to properly navigate these tools.

"You’d find much more success in pointing out that ChatGPT isn’t going to be always accurate, and you need to have the capability to at least recognize that you’re getting a dubious answer in the first place."

"Remind them that they won’t always be dealing with AI; they will still be mostly dealing with other people who will also give you dubious data. You need strong foundational knowledge in order to be able to scrutinize the world."

"In the end, if you turn to an LLM to answer all your questions, why would anyone ask or need anything from you? More importantly, who would pay you?" - RookieGreen

"AI hallucinations are a known problem with AI tools. My company uses a 'trust, but verify' policy. Our AI governance analyst said that she tried asking AI to digitize her grandmother’s handwritten recipes as a gift for her cousins."

"AI got several right, but then just straight up invented a cookie recipe that wasn’t in there at all. Trust, but verify."

"We used it at a department level to analyze our sales portfolio. Knowing that AI struggles with large data sources, it was great for generalizations (which is what we used it for), but in no way would I be comfortable giving it as hard data to upper management."

"I think a good 'research' project may be researching instances where AI has hallucinated data and/or sources, and it has caused serious embarrassment and ruined careers. The Dept of Health and Human Services has gotten in trouble with that several times in the past few years. AI could probably even help with that. lol." - lucydaisy_6

"I'd also have them realize AI is a computer and computers need to be updated because we're not going to be in 2088 using the same computers as 2026... And how do we get there, ~learning~ and ~using our brains~." - Dragonchick30

"If you drill down to the core of the issue, it comes to this: do you want to be an obedient servant to AI tools, blindly following orders, or do you want to be the master that is able to use the AI for personal benefit?"

"As the world is getting more advanced, the need for higher intelligence and critical thinking skills only increases. Now, even farmers need to have a basic understanding of technology just so they can use all the advanced machinery."

"Sure, AI can tell you everything you need to know, but you still need to be able to understand what it is telling you. You need to be able to understand when it is doing something wrong." - Effective_Olive6153

"I've been doing observations in a ninth-grade algebra class. On Monday, my mentor teacher made the choice to no longer give 'homework.' No student work would be done outside of class. She provides in-class time for them to complete the work on pencil and paper."

"She told the class that too many of them were cheating and then bombing the tests. They were just getting further and further behind because they weren't learning the previous skills."

"Well, she made this announcement Monday, and OVER HALF the class ripped their papers to shreds and threw them away/in the floor. They put their heads down the ENTIRE class. We even had the principal in there, and they refused to do anything."

"Their homework was every other day. And it's five questions... They are refusing to do any work in class now because they can't go home and cheat on FIVE problems."

"I've been genuinely flabbergasted." - Opening-Conflict17976

Hearing conversations like this is genuinely bleak. It's important that these students learn that, while they will likely want to use these tools, they need to learn how to properly navigate them and how to allow their independent thinking and ChatGPT's results to work together, not allow one to fully replace the other.