**Has the existence of AI helped or harmed our capacity for intellectual engagement, critical thinking, and creativity? How might its existence continue to impact how we connect to and communicate with one another?**

**AI has quickly become not only a ubiquitous feature of modern life, but a transformational technology that is changing how we live, work, and communicate. From personalized recommendations shaping what we read, watch, and buy, to intelligent virtual assistants helping us manage schedules, navigate cities, and access**
**information instantly, AI has woven itself seamlessly into daily routines. In the workplace, it accelerates research, and automates routine tasks, in some cases making workers obsolete. In education, students are turning to AI for help with research, drafting essays, and generating ideas. Even our social and emotional landscapes are**
**shifting, as AI tools facilitate self-expression and even therapy.**

**Some have started to question whether AI adds value to our lives, or if its convenience comes at the cost of critical thinking, intellectual independence, creativity, and genuine interpersonal relationships. In a recent study, researchers found that generative AI tools can make work feel easier by reducing the mental effort needed to gather information or generate ideas. But when subjects relied too heavily on AI or trusted its output too much, they reported doing less deep, reflective critical thinking on their own. Those who remained confident in their own abilities, rather than deferring to AI, were more likely to stay actively engaged and think critically. Notably, some researchers detected a “Reverse Flynn Effect” (the downward trajectory of a population’s average IQ scores) even before AI became widely used.**

**AI has been a boon to those trying to preserve oral cultural history. Historians and cultural heritage researchers are using AI to speed up the documenting and transcribing of oral histories, analyze transcripts and interviews, and teach students about oral-**
**history methods. Can the existence of AI also encourage a re-embracing of oral storytelling? Will slam poetry feel more authentic than written poems that may be generated with the assistance of AI? Another AI-related study showed that when readers are told that a piece of writing used AI content-generation assistance, they**
**tended to rate its quality lower and showed greater variation in their evaluations compared to writings without such a disclosure.**

**This discussion will explore the ways AI is reshaping how we think and communicate, and what might be lost or gained in the process. We’ll consider whether reliance on AI could weaken the critical thinking skills that once defined intellectual life, or whether it**
**might free us to engage more deeply with new forms of expression and connection. We’ll ask whether spoken and community-based storytelling may regain cultural importance as a result. And ultimately, we’ll wrestle with a central question: how do we**
**remain full, thinking, creative human beings in a world where machines increasingly think for us?**

**Symptom-free** people with the capacity to listen considerately to diverse viewpoints are invited to attend after **successfully RSVPing**.

We begin the discussion at **1:00 pm sharp** in the **mezzanine above the lobby of the Graduate Hotel**. Feel free to come up to 30 minutes early and hang out with us beforehand.

From the front Hotel entrance go to the right around the corner to enter through the north valet entrance. If the valet questions you just say you're here for the philosophy group. Go straight to the main lobby and turn right behind the large bookshelves before the elevators. Go up the stairs to your left and through the first door you encounter to enter our meeting room.

**OPENING ROUNDTABLE FORMAT (ORF):**

1. The topic presenter begins the discussion by explaining why they are interested in the topic and some introductory thoughts on it.
2. Each participant in turn going clockwise from the presenter describes their general thoughts on the topic.
3. If one is not ready to speak they can just say “pass” and the next person speaks.
4. After we've gone around once anyone who passed will get a second chance to comment.
5. Once everyone has given opening remarks or passed twice, Opening Roundtable is completed and the meeting shifts into its main format.

**TIMED DIRECTION FORMAT (TDRF>5):**
If there are more than 5 people present we will use the format below.

1. We will divide up the timed direction discussion time by the number of participants plus one (for a buffer). A timer will be set for this amount of time.
2. Each participant in turn will become a Discussion Director and lead the group discussion.
3. If one is not ready to direct they dimply say “pass” and the next person becomes the Discussion Director.
4. Anyone who arrives after step 1 (above), may participate but will not get a turn as Discussion Director.
5. The Discussion Director can make statements or ask questions, or interrupt or redirect the discussion at their discretion.
6. The discussion participants can state their own opinions only when asked by the Discussion Director, not Interrupt others and accede to the Discussion Director’s interruptions or redirections.
7. When the timer goes off the person speaking finishes their thought and then the next participant clockwise becomes the next Discussion Director.
8. After we've gone around once anyone who passed will get a second chance to direct.

At the end of the meeting, participants will have an opportunity to vote on the topic and format for the following meeting.

Robert Abrahamsen

Mark

Shamelle

Seattle Philosophy Club

Hobbies & Passions

Free Thinker

Reading

Book Club

Intellectual Discussions

Philosophy

Education & Technology

Critical Thinking

Humanism

Skeptics

Psychology

Debate

Politics

Science

Learning

Ethics

AI: Losing Our Minds? 

Graduate Seattle

Share

Seattle Philosophy Club

AI: Losing Our Minds?

Seattle Philosophy Club

Details

Members are also interested in