新南威尔士州教育部长普鲁·卡要求NSW教育标准局暂停下学年计入高中证书（HSC）成绩的居家评估[1]。这一决定旨在应对学生利用人工智能作弊和外包思维工作的担忧[1]。
卡部长表示，学生需要通过实际过程来发展认知能力，而不是依赖技术完成学习任务[1]。他指出："如果你想跑马拉松，不会在电脑上练习。让电脑替你思考，不会增长脑力[1]。"这一态度反映了对AI在教育中广泛影响的关切，包括学生认知过程退化和思维能力下降的风险[1]。
相关学者和评论人士也表达了类似的忧虑。《大西洋月刊》的报道指出，美国成年人在2006年至2018年间的逻辑推理、有效推理和模式分析能力出现下降[1]。《纽约时报》专栏作家布雷特·斯蒂芬斯警告称，过度依赖技术"令人智力衰退——当你真正需要每天养成爬楼梯的习惯时，这是一条自动扶梯捷径[1]"。教育工作者也指出，学生正试图以最快、最便捷的方式获得答案，忽视了"获得正确答案之所以重要，是因为你为之而经历的过程[1]"。
New South Wales Education Minister Prue Car has directed the state's education standards authority to suspend at-home assessments from counting toward HSC results in the coming school year, citing concerns over student use of artificial intelligence for cheating and outsourcing intellectual work [1]. The decision reflects growing anxiety about AI's impact on cognitive development, with educators and commentators warning that over-reliance on technology may weaken students' capacity for independent thinking.
Car articulated her position on the risks of delegating intellectual tasks to machines, stating: "If you want to run a marathon, you don't practice on a computer. You don't build grey matter by getting a computer to do the thinking for you." [1] This concern aligns with broader research findings; The Atlantic reported that between 2006 and 2018, American adults experienced measurable declines in logical reasoning, sound reasoning, and pattern analysis abilities [1]. New York Times columnist Brett Stephens added to this cautionary narrative, warning that artificial intelligence represents "an escalator toward a result when you really need to make a daily habit of taking the stairs" [1].
Teachers have reinforced these concerns, with one noting: "Kids are trying to get the answer the shortest, fastest, quickest, most convenient way possible, and are missing the point that yes, getting the right answer matters – but it matters because of the process you've gone through to get there." [1] The tension between reaching correct answers and maintaining rigorous cognitive engagement remains central to the government's approach to managing AI's role in secondary education assessment.