Catholic Stuff You Should Know A.I. and the Crisis of Western Education
Oct 3, 2025
Fr. John and Fr. Jacob dive into the impact of artificial intelligence on modern education. They discuss the importance of education as a holistic process aimed at truth and virtue, rather than just job training. The hosts critique how technocracy prioritizes technological literacy, riskily sidelining critical thinking. They warn about AI amplifying biases and affecting original thought, urging a balanced approach to tech use among children. The conversation emphasizes the need for moral formation in education, aiming for deep literacy over mere tool use.
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Education As Humanizing Paideia
- Education should humanize students, not merely train workers for jobs.
- Fr. John argues classical paideia cultivates truth, goodness, and beauty for human flourishing.
Pragmatism Flattened Critical Thought
- Modern public education often prioritizes outcomes and conformity over critical thinking.
- Fr. John links John Dewey's pragmatism to cultural groupthink and a loss of deep thinking.
AI Amplifies Educational Flattening
- AI amplifies the existing flattening of thought caused by pragmatic education.
- Fr. John warns large language models will exponentially reinforce shallow, outcome-focused learning.
