THE DARK SIDE OF AI IN EDUCATION: UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING

The growing implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in English Language Learning and Teaching (ELLT) has disrupted the teaching and learning methods and the interactions between the students and the teacher. As much as artificial intelligence (AI) applications like automated writing graders, grammar checkers, and adaptive learning platforms are being mass marketed as efficiency enhancers and customized service providers, their side effects are under-researched. This paper explored what effect AI has on cognitive independence, critical thinking, and linguistic creativity in learners and the ethical and pedagogical issues, such as academic dishonesty and teacher functions. The type of research design was quantitative and the sample comprised 250 undergraduate and graduate students and English language teachers in various institutions of higher learning through the administration of a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to investigate the relationships between AI dependency and critical learning outcomes, reliability analysis, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analyses were performed. The results showed that AI dependency in higher degrees was strongly related to the decreased cognitive autonomy, less critical thinking, and less linguistic creativity, and it caused the concern about academic integrity. Filed by teachers, there were changes in their teaching duties to suit AI application. The research comes to the conclusion that AI in ELLT is a two-sided instrument: it helps people learn, but it can also negatively influence cognitive growth, creativity, and ethical behaviour. It has been suggested to use AI in a moderate manner, provide professional growth to the teachers, ethical standards, and inclusive and human-centered pedagogy.