Learning with AI: Tool for Thought or Tempting Shortcut?

It starts with a blank page. One student opens a document and stares, waiting for an idea to form. Another opens ChatGPT and types, "Write an essay about climate change." Within seconds, the second student has a full page of text. But something is missing. There are no sparks of original thought, no subtle turns of argument, no struggle that forces a deeper reckoning with the material. The page is full, but the learning is hollow.

This is the paradox of AI in education. Tools like ChatGPT have made it easier than ever to produce language, organize ideas, and simulate fluency. But they also tempt students to bypass the very processes that lead to meaningful understanding. The danger is not that students will cheat, but that they will learn less without even realizing it.

Used well, generative AI can be a powerful aid to thinking. It can help students clarify vague ideas, reframe a question, or test out a line of reasoning. A student drafting a research question might explore multiple framings through iterative prompting. Another might use AI to summarize opposing views before weighing them against one another. In these moments, the tool is not replacing thought but extending it. The student remains at the center, asking the questions, shaping the path.

This distinction—between thinking with AI and thinking through it—matters. A recent study titled "Your Brain on ChatGPT" found that students who relied too heavily on AI during essay writing accumulated what researchers call "cognitive debt." The more the AI filled in the blanks, the less the student retained. Even when the output looked strong, comprehension and engagement suffered. Over time, this kind of shortcut thinking can leave students who appear confident but lack depth in their understanding.

The answer is not to ban AI but to teach students how to use it more wisely. At Trellis, our AI Research Skills Enrichment Course trains students to treat large language models as scaffolding, not substitute. We emphasize that these tools are most valuable in the early stages of research: outlining, organizing, and mapping a line of inquiry. The final writing—the part where insight must take shape—should be done without AI assistance. It is in the act of composition, of struggling to put thought into form, that understanding deepens.

Our students learn how to prompt with purpose, revise with awareness, and reflect on what the AI offers and what it cannot provide. They learn to challenge the machine's assumptions, test its logic, and improve its output through critique. These are not just technical skills. They are habits of mind that foster independence, clarity, and judgment.

The difference becomes clear when students return to that blank page. They do not begin by asking AI to write for them. They begin by asking better questions—of themselves, their sources, their tools. AI becomes part of the process, not the product. And in doing so, they learn not just to write, but to think.

The blank page is still there. But now, it is filled with possibility.

The Trellis AI Research Skills Enrichment Course helps students become confident, critical users of AI in their academic work. Join us to get started using AI to maximize your education.