How to think in the age of AI (and why it matters)
Technology is no longer just a tool: it is the environment in which young people grow up. They study with AI, work with algorithms, connect through screens and make decisions influenced by digital systems that recommend, filter and prioritise for them. Everything is faster, more automated… and sometimes more confusing.
In this context, many questions arise naturally: what should you study if everything changes so quickly? How do you stand out in an automated job market? What happens to our relationships when everything goes through an app? This is where philosophy, far from being something outdated, begins to take on new meaning.
Technology and young people’s everyday lives
Studying in the age of AI
Today, many young people use artificial intelligence to summarise notes, solve doubts or prepare assignments. This saves time, but it also raises a challenge: are we learning or just executing? Easy access to answers makes independent thinking more necessary than ever.
Philosophy helps precisely with this: learning to ask good questions, to doubt, to connect ideas and not to accept every answer without analysing it.
Work: fewer certainties, more decisions
The job market no longer promises linear career paths. Many roles change or disappear, while new ones emerge that do not yet have a name. For young people, this creates uncertainty, but also opportunities.
In this scenario, companies increasingly value human skills: critical thinking, analytical ability, communication, ethics and adaptability to change. These are competencies that are not easily automated and that philosophy trains directly.
Relationships, networks and screens
Technology also influences how young people relate to each other: friendships that begin online, relationships mediated by social networks, debates filtered by algorithms and constant exposure to opinions and comparisons.
Here, philosophy contributes something essential: stopping and reflecting. Thinking about identity, freedom, social pressure or a sense of belonging helps build more conscious relationships and prevents technology from fully deciding how we see ourselves and how we live.
The rise of philosophy as a technological counterbalance
In a world dominated by speed and automation, philosophy gains strength as a space for the opposite: slow thinking, questioning and understanding the impact of technology on human life.
It is not about rejecting AI, but about learning to live with it without losing judgement, values or autonomy. This is why more and more young people are interested in ethics, critical thinking and reflection on the future — not as abstract theory, but as practical tools to navigate a changing environment.
Education to think about the present (and the future)
There are educational options that connect these debates directly with today’s reality, such as the Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy at La Salle Campus Barcelona, which addresses contemporary issues — technology, ethics, society and critical thinking — from an applied and approachable perspective. A programme designed for those who want to understand the world they live in and actively take part in it, beyond following trends or algorithms.
FILOSOFIA AT | LA SALLE-URL