Making Sure AI Fosters Real Expertise
September 17, 2026
In reporting on how universities are dealing with students’ use of artificial intelligence, The New York Times cites an MIT study’s conclusion that reaching for AI “at the first hint of struggle” can create “the illusion of learning.” Christopher S. Cotton and Lydia Scholle-Cotton would agree, seeing the problem even for early-career professionals. “The tools that enable novices to perform more like experts simultaneously make them less likely to become experts,” they write in Issues. In response, institutions need not resist AI, but should realign incentives to protect “the developmental pipeline through which deep understanding and judgment have historically been forged.”