Recently, a co-authored paper by Associate Professor Weiming Ye  of Peking University HSBC Business School, entitled “Does AI Make Us Smarter—or More Dependent?’: Public Discourse on Knowledge Construction Across Cognitive, Behavioral, and Ethical Dimensions,” was published in Comunicar (n. 86, v. XXXIV, 2026, pp. 71–84). The paper is co-authored with Dr. Qian Li (corresponding author) of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Arizona State University. Dr. Li is also a 2021 graduate of PHBS’s Financial Media program.

From a communication perspective, the study examines public discourse on AI-assisted learning through a “Cognition–Behavior–Ethics (CBE) × Three-Stage (Acquisition, Comprehension, Application)” framework. It analyzes Reddit discussions from 2013 to 2025, drawing on 10,503 valid posts after preprocessing, and combines Biterm Topic Modeling (BTM) with qualitative interpretation.

The findings show that, during knowledge acquisition, users value AI’s efficiency in synthesizing information but express “credibility anxiety” over factual and logical errors. During comprehension, AI lowers barriers to understanding complex concepts, yet excessive reliance may weaken independent reasoning and critical thinking. During application, AI is viewed as a “practice accelerator” that reduces trial-and-error costs and expands possible solutions, while also raising concerns about plagiarism, intellectual property, fairness, and accountability.

Across the CBE dimensions, public perceptions follow a “trust–skepticism–recalibration” cycle. Behaviorally, AI use extends from individual practices to community-based comparison and collaborative verification. Ethically, tensions emerge between individual responsibility and institutional regulation, reflecting the Collingridge dilemma created by the lag between technological change and rulemaking.

Overall, AI is constructed as an “intellectual partner, behavioral facilitator, and ethical interlocutor.” The study conceptualizes AI-assisted learning as a socio-technological process of ongoing negotiation around efficiency, trust, autonomy, and responsibility, and highlights the need for transparent, participatory, and stage-specific governance.

Read the full paper.