THE RISE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND ITS IMPACT ON HUMAN CAPACITIES

Abstract

The accelerating development and diffusion of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have generated intense scholarly and public debate regarding their implications for human capacities. While some scholars argue that AI enhances human productivity, cognition, and creativity, others contend that it contributes to cognitive atrophy, diminished critical thinking, and weakened social interaction. Using qualitative method and deep content analysis, this paper critically interrogates the cognitive decline thesis by examining whether AI is genuinely eroding human capacities or merely transforming them within evolving socio-technical systems. Moving beyond dominant Western epistemological frameworks, the study incorporates African and Nigerian philosophical perspectives to reconceptualize intelligence, personhood, and knowledge production. Drawing on relational ontology, communal epistemology, extended mind theory, and decolonial thought, the paper argues that the impact of AI is culturally mediated and context dependent. Rather than a straightforward decline, AI engenders a reconfiguration of human capacities, redistributing cognitive functions while amplifying certain forms of intelligence. However, real risks persist, including over-reliance, ethical disengagement, epistemic marginalization, and socio-economic inequality. The paper concludes by advocating for a human-centered, culturally grounded, and ethically informed approach to AI integration in human activities.