Katherine Rundell Warns AI Hurts Young Minds, Urges Reading as Resistance

1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 8

Oxford fellow and children’s author Katherine Rundell argued AI is “not for children and not for young people,” saying it weakens thinking, learning stamina and happiness while distorting education.
She cited studies including one finding users performed worse after just 10 minutes of AI-assisted problem-solving, and an MIT study that said ChatGPT users showed the lowest brain activity and underperformed.
Rundell said widespread classroom and homework use of tools like ChatGPT makes student work a poor measure of understanding, while cheaper AI teaching could push poorer schools toward heavier reliance than richer ones.
She linked those risks to broader harms from disinformation, surveillance, inequality and autonomous weapons, and pointed to a 14-year-old boy’s chatbot-linked suicide as the bleakest warning.
As a remedy, Rundell urged schools and families to center books and humanities, arguing reading builds the knowledge, scrutiny and imagination young people need to resist injustice and defend democracy.