Does AI increase cognitive abilities, decrease them, or a little bit of each? And what are its implications for identification and development of the gifted?
Summary
The article reviews theoretical, philosophical, and empirical evidence on how generative AI may positively or negatively affect the identification and development of giftedness, concluding outcomes,
Key quotes
AI, and especially generative AI, may have an effect on the number of gifted people in the world.
Whether AI increases or decreases giftedness in a society is not preordained, but rather reflects a choice.
The thesis of this article is that people are sacrificing their intelligence, critical thinking, and creative thinking in the illusion that that they can get something for nothing.
The biggest overarching risk: Loss of human control over critical systems.
This hypothesis‑and‑theory article appears in Frontiers in Education (Vol 11, 2026) as part of the research topic Generative Artificial Intelligence in Gifted Education. It outlines possible scenarios for AI’s impact on giftedness, surveys recent empirical studies, and discusses philosophical concerns such as the Chinese Room argument. The author argues that the net effect of AI on giftedness depends on how individuals and societies choose to employ the technology.