THIS is with reference to the article ‘Almighty algorithms’ (Nov 17) which certainly raised some pertinent questions, especially regarding enslavement to artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. Undoubtedly, AI may provide a competitive edge in terms of both speed and cost-effectiveness in the industrial world, but there are some challenges that should not be ignored.

Take the case of education as an example. A research conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) offered revealing conclusions. The research was based on an experimental and a control group. The experimental group was given an AI-based assignment, whereas the control group was given a non-AI based assignment. The result, not surprisingly, indicated that the critical cognitive ability was low in the AI-based group compared to the non-AI-based control group.

It is important that AI ought to be used with great care to avoid counterdepen- dence of students to keep their enslavement to the machine at bay. Besides, if AI is used for organisational efficiency, it can result in unemployment with serious social consequences. Therefore, any policy of digitalisation and over-reliance on AI algorithms has to be adopted while being utterly mindful of the consequences.

Dr Zafar Iqbal Qureshi
Lahore

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2025