This is Part 6 of a series on AI in education. See Part 1 here.

In Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's 1797 poem "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (later immortalized by Walt Disney), a trainee makes a broom fetch water for him while his magic-using teacher is away. But the apprentice never learned how to stop the spell. Disaster ensues, as the broom multiplies and floods the place until the sorcerer returns and puts an end to the spell and mayhem. The lesson is clear: Let something do the work for you, and/or only work on pieces of your craft, and you never learn important skills.

Centuries later, in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), that lesson is especially pertinent. If students let AI do all the work for them in school, they miss out on important practice that builds vital skills like writing and critical thinking. Yet if students don't learn to leverage AI, they won't be prepared for their future careers, as industries are already folding AI into their operations. This creates a conundrum, but one that savvy educators can navigate. I had the pleasure of interviewing an expert on this topic and a visionary in the field of cybernetics. Thompson Morrison, author and co-founder of Catalyst Learning Labs, works with primary and secondary schools to help unleash their creative potential. His answers follow each question below.

Jenny Grant Rankin: What does it mean when students use AI "as a crutch," and what happens when students come to depend on it?

Thompson Morrison: A recent study from MIT’s Media Lab has........

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