Norway is, by almost any metric, a profoundly successful nation. It\u2019s rich, democratic and relatively corruption-free. It\u2019s not a socialist country, but fans of a robust welfare state and high taxes see much to admire in the very progressive Norwegian model. It also benefits from having the biggest and arguably best-run sovereign wealth fund in the world.<\/p>\n
And yet, Norway nearly ruined its children.<\/p>\n
In 2016, flush with cash and progressive values, Norway gave every child in the country, starting at the age of 5, their own iPad or similar digital device. A decade later, young Norwegians now struggle to read. \u201cAround 500,000 Norwegians, in a population of only 5.6 million, cannot read a text message or simple instructions,\u201d reports The Times<\/a> of London. \u201cOf the 65 countries measured for children\u2019s enjoyment of reading by Pirls (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study), it comes bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store launched a program in August to deal with the problem. \u201cNorwegian children used to be among the best readers in the world,\u201d he said at the time. \u201cBut today, 15,000 pupils finish primary school without being able to read properly.\u201d<\/p>\n Now imagine giving every child an AI chatbot to answer all of their questions.<\/p>\n I am not a catastrophist when it comes to artificial intelligence. But, given Norway\u2019s experience with iPads \u2014 or our own with smartphones \u2014 I worry that the mass introduction of AI, particularly in schools, will be very bad for children.<\/p>\n As a curmudgeon and as a writer, I hate nearly all of the cliches about children, even the ones that are accurate. With that caveat, it\u2019s simply true that children are the future. They will be the next generation of parents, voters and citizens. And all of the cliches about how kids learn by doing are true.<\/p>\n AI removes the doing.<\/p>\n Just as you can\u2019t learn how to ride a bike from reading a book, you can\u2019t get the benefits of reading by asking AI to read a book for you. The same holds for math, science, computer programming and nearly every other aspect of education.<\/p>\n Our military is the finest and most lethal in the world. But before you learn how to operate a drone or launch a cyberattack, you still have to go through basic training.<\/p>\n Education, both at home and at school, is basic training for civilization.<\/p>\n Americans love technology, but not every technological advancement is an advancement in every sphere of life. There are machines that can lift weights, but using a machine to lift weights for you doesn\u2019t count as exercise and doesn\u2019t build your muscles. Using a machine to think for you is the route to mental flabbiness.<\/p>\n