USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN SECONDARY EDUCATION: OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE HUMANITIES AND NATURAL SCIENCES

Abstract

Artificial intelligence has generated profound transformations in current educational processes, particularly in secondary education, where its incorporation has led to various changes in the dynamics of teaching, learning, and knowledge production. This essay aims to critically analyze the risks and opportunities of using artificial intelligence in the humanities and natural sciences, reflecting on its pedagogical, ethical, and formative implications in contemporary school contexts. Methodologically, the study was developed using a qualitative, argumentative, and documentary approach, based on a theoretical review of authors and organizations specializing in artificial intelligence, education, and critical thinking.The results demonstrated that artificial intelligence brings pedagogical contributions related to personalized learning, immediate feedback, improved research processes, and enhanced access to knowledge. Likewise, its potential to support scientific simulations in the natural sciences and interpretive and argumentative processes in the humanities was identified. However, risks associated with weakened critical thinking, technological dependence, academic plagiarism, loss of intellectual originality, and reduced reflective capacity in students were acknowledged.Finally, it is concluded that the indiscriminate incorporation of artificial intelligence can exacerbate educational inequalities, generating problems related to digital ethics and holistic education. Therefore, the need to integrate these technologies through critical, ethical, and pedagogically responsible analysis is proposed, prioritizing intellectual autonomy, critical digital literacy, and human development within contemporary educational processes.