YSU professor examines moral concerns over AI adoption

Youngstown State University philosophy professor and director of the Dr. James Dale Ethics Center Mark Vopat presented a paper on the moral concerns supporting artificial intelligence at the annual meeting of the Atlantic Region Philosopher’s Association at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada.

The paper, “Cognitive Debt, Persistence, and Dependence: Some Moral Concerns Over the Rapid Adoption of AI,” examines the ethical concerns raised by calls for widespread AI adoption, particularly in education. Vopat argues that evidence of negative psychological effects – including cognitive debt, metacognitive laziness and reduced persistence – raises concerns about cognitive dependence, diminished autonomy and overreliance on AI systems and the companies that control them.