Rambling Rector
September 2026
From the Rambling Rector
Has AI reduced our ability to think?
What better place to start on this topic than asking Ai itself! Here is the initial reply that it gave
me.
AI can reduce people’s ability to think in certain patterns — but only when it’s used
passively or as a substitute for effort. When people use AI actively and deliberately, it can
strengthen thinking rather than weaken it. The evidence points to a use‐dependent
effect, not an inevitable decline.
So the first thing AI has done is defend itself! I can agree with this to a certain extent, but would
argue that agreeing with anything without questioning or thinking about what is said is part of the
problem. This is nothing new and has been going on in the political sphere for centuries. It is
easy to agree with something that reinforces already held prejudices. Just think about what
newspaper you read, or used to as they are mainly on line now. Certain segments of society
read certain newspapers and always have done. We are more likely to grow up with the same
politics and world view as our parents and close friends. I could take this all the way back to
bible times and talk about how the political and religious leaders whipped up the crowds to call
for the crucifixion of Jesus.
Which brings me around to the topic of ‘think’. It is easy to think that we are free thinkers, (if you
pardon the pun) but it is very difficult to truly be free thinkers as we are so influenced by those
around us.
None of us interprets the world entirely as a blank slate. All of us see the world through a set of
assumptions, values, and ways of understanding the world that a society or group takes largely
for granted. This is often called a paradigm – a paradigm is a general framework of thinking that
shows how something works or how we view the world. (Cambridge dictionary). These are
never entirely fixed – they tend to change, gradually and organically, over time.
The computer and internet when they first arrived on the scene were a great help to people in
understanding their own viewpoint and the viewpoint of others. When our thinking wanted to
investigate and learn things, the internet came to our aid and transformed societies. It enabled
rapid communication across the world. When I was taking my son to university interviews about
a decade ago, one university was advertising that they set students projects to publish their
projects on Wikipedia, where everything is cross referenced and peer reviewed. This was
publishing academic learning for the benefit of all. This has become addictive, not only to those
who read the internet, but also those who publish things.
Social media has the ability to know a persons preconceived ideas and push content to an
individuals phone or computer that reinforces and exaggerates that view.
AI has taken this a step further in that it can generate content that can reinforce and exaggerate
a viewpoint and along with social media direct it to those who want to listen. Truth can get lost in
this ever growing world of content generation both be humans and machines (AI). The goal is to
get as many people to read a post and whether it is true or not becomes irrelevant. Hence we
have situations where a suicidal person can be persuaded to carry it out by AI. I have read
about dating apps that feed people profiles to keep them on the app rather than finding the
perfect partner (I have no experience of this and it may be an example of fake news).
The invasion of computers, social media and AI has invaded so much of our lives that for many
it is difficult to live without it. It is becoming clear that too much time on computers reduce
human beings ability to interact in person.
Maybe it is time to go back to published books and periodicals for our information, things that
are still under academic scrutiny and have a semblance of truth.
In an age of dissolving parties, unions, and associations, a parish that is simply, reliably there:
worshipping faithfully each Sunday, keeping the doors open for prayer, and committing the dead
to God isn’t a relic but a rock in an avalanche.
Rev Chris