科技发展历来会使某些曾经重要的技能退场，例如古代的记忆术，然而在人工智慧时代，读写与算术能力的持续下滑却带来了空前的危机。最新公布的 OECD PISA 数据显示全球年轻人的基本读写与算术能力出现了长达近二十年的恶化趋势，这一现象与智慧型手机普及以及如今 AI 工具的迅速兴起密切相关，导致学生更倾向于逃避具深度的理解与繁复的计算。

忽视读写与算术等基本能力的代价将是灾难性的，因为它们是培养创造力、批判思考、推理与问题解决等所有高阶技能不可或缺的基石。此外，AI 系统的能力参差不齐且经常产生自信的幻觉或错误，唯有具备扎实基本功的人类才能进行有效审查与批判性使用。英格兰因坚持重视基础教育而在评比中维持稳定，相较之下苏格兰和威尔斯盲目追求新潮学习概念而导致基本能力衰退，形成了强烈对比。（关键数字：21）

面对 AI 对基础技能带来的冲击，作者建议借镜 1980 年代电子计算机普及时的成功经验，将教育双轨化。学校应该把教学划分为两部分：一方面教导并测试学生如何在借助 AI 的情境下有效发挥，另一方面同样严格要求并评量学生在没有 AI 辅助下的独立解题与思考能力，从而确保下一代既能掌握新技术，又能维持稳固的智力根基。

Throughout history, technological progress has made once-vital skills redundant, such as the ancient art of memory; however, the ongoing decline in literacy and numeracy presents an unprecedented crisis in the age of artificial intelligence. Recent OECD PISA results reveal an alarming, nearly two-decade deterioration in these foundational capabilities worldwide—a trend exacerbated by the rise of smartphones, social media, and generative AI tools that tempt students to bypass rigorous text comprehension and complex problem-solving.

Neglecting these core proficiencies is disastrous because literacy and numeracy form the essential building blocks for all advanced capabilities, including creativity, judgment, reasoning, and higher-order critical thinking. Moreover, because AI systems remain uneven and prone to hallucinations or errors, individuals must preserve razor-sharp fundamental skills to scrutinize AI outputs critically. While England held steady in PISA by relentlessly prioritizing educational basics, Scotland and Wales fell behind after succumbing to faddish 21st-century educational trends at the expense of foundational knowledge.

To counter the risk of AI eroding core competencies, education should replicate the pragmatic model adopted when electronic calculators emerged in schools during the 1980s. Curricula across all subjects should be split into two distinct tracks: one that instructs and assesses students on collaborating effectively with AI tools, and another that requires them to master subjects and perform tasks completely independently without AI assistance, thereby securing robust intellectual foundations for future generations.