Sebastián Ferrada, an IMFD researcher on AI in the classroom: “We need to develop criteria and explore alternative forms of assessment—it can no longer be just about grades.”

Scholars Sebastián Ferrada and John Atkinson analyzed the impact of artificial intelligence on work and education, emphasizing that critical thinking, professional judgment, and interpersonal skills will remain essential in the age of automation.

In a recent issue of A Bordo de La Tercera, Sebastián Ferrada— a scholarat theData and Artificial Intelligence Initiative (IDIA) in the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Chile and an IMFD researcher — shared the stage with John Atkinson ( Andrés Bello University) to reflect on how artificial intelligence is transforming the world of work and academia. The discussion dispelled one of the most common fears: that machines will replace professionals on a massive scale.

In response to the question, “Will lawyers or doctors one day be replaced by machines?”, the scholars called for putting the phenomenon into perspective. They noted that artificial intelligence is a technology with 70 years of development and that, although language models today can generate text or code, they still do not replace human capabilities such as critical judgment, professional responsibility, or interpersonal relationships.

AI enhances capabilities; it does not replace them

For Ferrada, the value of artificial intelligence tools—such as the language models behind ChatGPT or Claude—depends on the skills of the person using them.“Most of these tools have a limitation: if you feed them things that don’t make much sense, they won’t give you anything interesting in return. But it is very useful for amplifying the work capabilities you already possess.”

He explained that someone who knows how to write can use AI to improve the structure or narrative of a text, but that no tool can replace prior knowledge or clarity of ideas.

Atkinson added to this perspective by noting that, although automation will continue to advance, skills such as critical thinking and the ability to synthesize information remain unique to People.

Human judgment remains indispensable

Ferrada emphasized that the impact of AI in fields such as law and programming is different from what is often portrayed in the headlines.

“In the legal field, for example, we at the IMFD are working with tools for searching case law and drafting legal documents, but ultimately, the task of arguing, debating, and interacting with other People a human one. In education, on the other hand, the question is how to use this tool so that People —not just to pass their courses. Therefore, anything that requires personal judgment, interpersonal relationships, or legal responsibility cannot be left in the hands of these models.”

Expanding on the point about education, Ferrada asserts that AI has facilitated a practice that existed before: prioritizing grades over learning. For this reason, he argues that universities must rethink their assessment methods and strengthen skills such as critical thinking, analytical ability, and problem formulation, rather than simply reproducing information.

“We have to find alternative ways to conduct assessments— it can’t just be about grades anymore. Because before, students used to copy from Wikipedia, but now that ChatGPT has been trained on Wikipedia, everyone turns in the exact same report. So, we need to develop criteria; we need to train People understand what’s happening rather than just repeating information. This is especially noticeable in graduate school, when students submit their thesis proposals and don’t understand why the problems are interesting, or who they’re helping with their research.”

He acknowledges that this change poses a challenge, especially in large courses, but maintains that it is necessary to move toward new ways of teaching and assessing.

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Regarding preparation for this scenario, the researcher argued that training should be a shared responsibility between People organizations.

“Personal motivation to learn and explore models, learn to code, or take an online Python course is an excellent place to start and to develop a curiosity about these things. But if we’re talking about a significant shift in the workplace, it can’t be that each individual worker has to figure out how to train themselves. Companies need to take a broader view so that workers can apply this technology judiciously, without it leading to replacement.”

You can listen to the full conversation between Sebastián Ferrada and John Atkinson in a new episode of *A Bordo de La Tercera* here: