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Adults have talked at length about the potential risks of artificial intelligence use in schools, from concerns about hindered critical thinking, to plagiarism, to decreased connection with educators. But it’s another thing altogether to hear these worries posed by an actual young person.

Soborno Isaac Bari, a 13-year old child prodigy, author, and the world's youngest professor at NYU (where he also studied) recently shared on an episode of the Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know podcast that when he sees his fellow classmates using ChatGPT to pass at all costs, it makes him “furious.” Why? For the simple reason that it takes away the gift of failure.

Coming from someone who could easily benefit from academic shortcuts, Bari’s stance stands out. Surrounded by high-achieving peers and intense expectations, he argues that learning loses its meaning when the goal becomes avoiding mistakes at any cost.

Bari shared how his own father failed Calculus four times. Nevertheless, he continued because of his love of learning. After his fourth failure, Bari’s father got a B, but because he wanted to master the subject, he took the class one last time, and finally got an A. This story of perseverance easily shows how repeated failure did not signal an endpoint, but rather became a vital part of the learning process itself.

“After that, he got straight A’s on every course. Because that love of learning was in him no matter how many times he failed,” Bari told Minhaj.

He then urged listeners to heed the moral of this story: that failing isn’t the enemy, and a tool which promises to take away the potential to fail is not a friend. Many students grow up believing that mistakes are permanent reflections of their ability, rather than temporary steps toward understanding. In that environment, a technology that offers instant answers can feel less like a convenience and more like a necessity. But Bari warned to not fall victim to this fallacy.

“Don’t let ChatGPT live your life. Learn your own education. And work your job. Don't let it take away all those amazing opportunities that make your life rough and special. And don’t be afraid to fail sometimes. Because in the end, it’ll all feel meaningless if you don’t at least have something you consider a failure.”

This youngster’s perspective challenges listeners to reconsider how they define progress and success, which isn’t something that always comes up in the AI conversation. Rather than measuring learning by blazing through classes and earning top grades, Bari emphasizes curiosity, effort, and personal investment. Those qualities, he suggests, cannot be generated by an algorithm and are worth protecting, even when doing so feels harder.

“Creativity and humanity is the one thing AI can’t replace.”

You can watch the full episode of Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know below:

- YouTube www.youtube.com