THE SCHOOL IN THE FACE OF GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: AUTHORSHIP, COGNITION, AND LEARNING IN THE FINAL YEARS OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION AND IN HIGH SCHOOL

Abstract

The spread of generative artificial intelligence has introduced new questions into everyday school life, particularly at stages of Basic Education in which students consolidate more complex forms of reading, writing, argumentation, problem-solving, and intellectual autonomy. This article analyzes the implications of using generative artificial intelligence in the Final Years of Elementary Education and in High School, focusing on authorship, the cognitive processes involved in learning, and the ways in which schools can incorporate these technologies without transferring to them intellectual functions essential to students’ development. This is a qualitative, bibliographic, and theoretical-analytical study based on books, scientific articles, institutional documents, a doctoral dissertation, and recent studies on artificial intelligence, education, writing, cognition, and digital literacy. The analysis demonstrates that the educational effects of generative AI cannot be understood solely in terms of the presence or absence of the technology, as they depend on how it is used, its pedagogical purposes, students’ age and development, and teacher mediation. The studies examined point to possibilities related to personalization, writing support, feedback generation, and the development of digital literacy, while also highlighting risks of dependence, cognitive offloading, weakened authorship, and the uncritical use of automatically generated content. It is concluded that the central issue for schools is neither to prohibit nor to normalize generative AI, but to establish pedagogical conditions that preserve students’ intellectual participation and assign technology a role consistent with the educational objectives of Basic Education.