Balancing Technology and Humanity: How to Prevent Over-Reliance on Generative AI in Student Independent Learning_Vol. 3 No. 1 (JNSE 2026)_Journal of Natural Science Education (ISSN: 3005-5792)

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Balancing Technology and Humanity: How to Prevent Over-Reliance on Generative AI in Student Independent Learning

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jnse.202617103

Author(s)

Haitao Wang

Affiliation(s)

Zhengzhou Police University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China

Abstract

With the rapid iteration and penetration of generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, DeepSeek) in education, they have become versatile aids for students' independent learning, enabling instant information retrieval and efficient task optimization to enhance learning efficiency. However, students' growing over-reliance has triggered prominent dilemmas, such as eroded independent thinking, pervasive loss of creative expression, and impaired cognitive construction, challenging the balance between technological empowerment and humanistic cultivation. This study explores the formation mechanism of such over-reliance and constructs a targeted prevention strategy system via a mixed method: a questionnaire survey of 500 students from 18 schools, semi-structured interviews with 30 typical students and 15 teachers, and 3-month case studies. Results show over-reliance is driven by individual (instrumental motivation, low self-efficacy), teacher (insufficient guidance), and environmental (tool usability, unclear norms) factors. A three-dimensional strategy for students, teachers, and management departments is proposed, enriching relevant theories and providing practical references for rational AI application in education. This study enriches the theoretical system of the integration of generative AI and education, particularly deepening research on the negative effects of generative AI in students' independent learning and its regulatory mechanisms. Practically, the proposed three-dimensional prevention strategy provides specific and operable reference schemes for schools, teachers, and educational management departments to address students' over-reliance on AI. It is anticipated to guide the rational application of generative AI in education, give full play to its auxiliary role in promoting learning, and simultaneously safeguard the core status of students' cognitive development and humanistic quality cultivation, thereby advancing the healthy, sustainable, and humanistic development of AI-assisted education.

Keywords

Generative AI; Independent Learning; Over-Reliance; Educational Balance; Humanistic Cultivation; AI-Assisted Education; Cognitive Development

References

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