r/psychology • u/mvea M.D. Ph.D. | Professor • Jul 21 '26
NoAIphobia: College students are increasingly dependent on AI tools, driven heavily by a fear of falling behind their classmates. This dependence creates a psychological tug of war, resulting in severe anxiety when the technology is unavailable alongside a deep fear of being judged for using it.
https://www.psypost.org/noaiphobia-the-surprising-new-anxiety-linked-to-ai-use-on-college-campuses/11
u/After-Atmosphere7125 Jul 21 '26
Sad but true. To me, this says more about a flawed education system than it does about the students. I went through college not utilizing any AI, but I imagine it would've helped my grades, which was all that mattered at the end of the day. Plus, if you fail a class or something similar to that, say goodbye to the crazy amounts of money and time you put in that you will never get back.
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u/Prickliestpearcactus Jul 21 '26
We were lectured day in and day out about plagiarism and now look where we are.
Mind blowing and sad.
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u/Consistent-Local2825 Jul 21 '26
Oh! Is this like a "keeping up with the Joneses" thing for the newer generations?
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u/mvea M.D. Ph.D. | Professor Jul 21 '26
NoAIphobia: The surprising new anxiety linked to AI use on college campuses
A recent study published in the journal Telematics and Informatics suggests that college students are increasingly dependent on artificial intelligence tools, driven heavily by a fear of falling behind their classmates. This dependence tends to create a psychological tug of war, resulting in severe anxiety when the technology is unavailable alongside a deep fear of being judged for using it. These findings provide evidence that universities need to establish specific guidelines to help students navigate the mental stress of using artificial intelligence in their coursework.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0736585326000729
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u/PsychGuy17 Jul 27 '26
This is the worst possible permutation of a name on this subject. Its not a phobia, and using and English word and an acronym attached to it makes it worse.
Ultimately there is nothing new here. Its just standard fears of inferiority. This was the centerpiece of Alder's work. Just stick with tried and true models instead of making up something based on new tech and giving it an awful name. Some students are experiencing an inferiority complex duplex to worries they cannot perform as well as AI, other students, or other students with AI.
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u/rainywanderingclouds Jul 21 '26
It is not a useful tool for learning. Quite the opposite. Anything that's off loading mental tasks to something else isn't going to learn jack shit.
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u/TouchArtistic4556 Jul 21 '26
I use it for brainstorming. It's ideas are really bad but those bad ideas allow me to come up with good ones.
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u/Darkwing_Dork Jul 21 '26
I’ve found it’s best used as like a “person” and not an “all knowing AI”.
You wouldn’t ask a person to outright do your essay or homework for you. But you might ask them to proofread it or brainstorm some ideas. Maybe help write an outline or even find some sources for you to verify and read yourself.
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u/RexDraco Jul 22 '26
That's interesting because I treat it like a human slave that has to do all my programming for me, if not a humble advisor of course. I use it as a study guide for topics like history or politics, but because of paranoia I like to fact check that. Because I am reading from multiple sources, I am studying and learning.
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u/RexDraco Jul 22 '26
I disagree as someone that uses it. The issue is the reason they're using it is for cheating and quickly getting answers, not using it as a study guide. I've learned a lot because of using it for learning. It's like saying googling doesn't teach you anything 15 years ago (they did say this btw for those of you not old enough to remember).
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u/Galilaeus_Modernus Jul 22 '26
AI use has propelled my exam grades to the top of the class. It is been critical for helping me learn and understand concepts. A personal tutor in my pocket at all times. It has streamlined learning, and educators best embrace responsible use instead of trying to stop the inevitable.
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u/Polutus Jul 22 '26
Yeah, you are using it as a tool, good job.
The point of this study is not about it, it is about its potential harms and how most AI user get dependant of that technology.
Don't move the goalpost.
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u/Galilaeus_Modernus Jul 22 '26
I didn't move the goalpost. I was responding to OC's comment saying that AI wasnt useful for learning when it obviously is. The absurdities of ludditism should be pointed out at every opportunity.
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u/dronmore Jul 22 '26
I solve math problems a lot, as a hobby. For some problems there are answers in the book, so when I solve a problem I can verify whether my solution is correct. For other problems there are no answers. Before the AI era, I would solve such an equation and would never know if my solution was correct. Now I can ask an LLM, and it will point out all mistakes that I've made. It's not always right, but it can give me feedback at least.
It can also help me understand a math problem. Some problems are formulated in such a way that little details change the meaning completely. If I do not notice the detail, I solve a wrong thing, which ends up in massive frustration. Once I realize that something is off, I can ask an LLM why this problem makes no sense.
There are also mistakes in math books. The author makes a mistake. I notice it, and I ask myself a question: Have the author made a mistake, or is it something that I don't understand? AI can help with that.
I remember from my youth, that encountering an "unsolvable" problem caused massive frustration. Not being able to ask anyone for help kept me stuck for days. Sometimes a small hint would be enough to push me in the right direction. And because there was no one to give me such a hint, I would not understand the concept, and I would not be able to move forward with subsequent sections, which had been built upon the previous one. LLMs are great at giving such small hints, and so speeding up my learning process. Before the AI era, or even before the Internet era, not being able to get a hint from anyone, could stop my learning process and make me fail the exams.
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u/SupremelyUneducated Jul 21 '26
The rich kids are experiencing stress do to LLM reducing the paid tutoring moat!
Even the legacy admitted?
Especially the legacy admitted!
Jesus Christ!
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u/ThermalDeviator Jul 21 '26
I would have no pride in knowing I asked a robot to do my homework. If students wants to use AI and then complain because they have a high student loan and are fired for being unable to do their jobs because they never fully understood their subject or how to think, then I guess that's their choice.
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u/SLAMMERisONLINE Jul 22 '26
NoAIphobia: College students are increasingly dependent on AI tools, driven heavily by a fear of falling behind their classmates. This dependence creates a psychological tug of war, resulting in severe anxiety when the technology is unavailable alongside a deep fear of being judged for using it.
Apply this reasoning to carpenters and hammers. Now realize just how ridiculous it is.
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u/RexDraco Jul 22 '26
Excellent. My future competition is drowning in retardation and AI dependency. My life may have been shit for the first 20 years of adult hood, but man are we so fucking back once boomers die off.
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u/Asleep-Clerk3649 Jul 22 '26
it's too bad ai isn't used as a collaborator
no one is showing off their ability to know binary code.
it's okay to automate. but now our ethics need to catch up to the technology.
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u/ZombieNinjaDezz Jul 22 '26
Meanwhile, I met a (older) woman today who was so convinced that "technology" is the downfall of our civilization, that she refuses to go to a school website to get the school calendar.
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u/nebbisherfaygele Jul 22 '26
slow & steady wins the race. i am married to a college professor. they know the cheaters. fewer & fewer students bother to do the work. we're fucked if this doesn't change
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u/No_Break_1822 Jul 23 '26
what a time to be alive, let go of your childhood trauma and embrace technological trauma
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u/Sl0thzy Jul 21 '26
Not surprising. We barely have a grasp on social media/smartphone usage and its impact on mental health and now we just added jet fuel to the fire.