A Study on AI Dependency

Purpose: This study investigates the adverse effects of excessive reliance on generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, on the development of critical 21st-century skills among university students. It explores the paradoxical relationship between AI dependency and the erosion of communication, creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and social confidence, while also examining the emergent construct of alienation in AI-mediated learning environments.Methods: A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was employed, combining a quantitative survey of 333 Bangladeshi business students analyzed via Structural Equation Modeling (SEM-PLS) with qualitative interviews of professors and students across the Indian Subcontinent. The study tested seven hypotheses linking Artificial Intelligence Dependency (AID) to skill degradation and alienation, grounded in Marx’s theory of alienation and Foucault’s panopticism.Results: Findings revealed statistically significant negative impacts of AID on all measured competencies (β = 0.433–0.568, *p* < 0.001), with the strongest effect on problem-solving skills (β = 0.568). Alienation emerged as a central consequence, as students reported diminished pride in AI-assisted work and reduced engagement with peers and educators. Qualitative themes highlighted internalized surveillance and normalized epistemological conformity, where AI tools functioned as "judges of normality."Conclusion: The study underscores a Faustian trade-off: while AI enhances efficiency, its uncritical adoption risks intellectual disenfranchisement and skill atrophy. It calls for balanced pedagogical frameworks that harness AI’s benefits while safeguarding human-centric learning. The results align with Spengler’s critique of technics, warning of civilizational decline when tools supplant foundational human capacities.Keywords: Generative AI, AI dependency, alienation, 21st-century skills, higher education, SEM-PLS, Foucault, Marx