Why many young scholars are reluctant to read complex texts

 Artificial Intelligence with its ability to summarise texts and even convert books into audio, is reinforcing a culture of shortcut learning. [Courtesy]

There is a troubling shift taking root among many young scholars: the quiet abandonment of serious reading.

Books, journals, and long-form academic texts, once seen as the mark of intellectual depth, are now treated as optional or even irrelevant. At the centre of this shift lies a deeper frustration: the belief that education, especially university education, no longer leads to a meaningful revenue stream.

For years, young people were told a simple story: study hard, read widely, excel academically, and success would follow. The brilliant student, the one immersed in demanding texts, was held up as the model citizen in the making. That story is collapsing.

Degrees are issued, but jobs are absent. The outcome is deep disillusionment among job seekers and their relatives.

Faced with this reality, many students question the value of deep academic engagement. If a first-class degree does not lead to employment, then why spend long hours reading? Why struggle with theory or engage in complex arguments?

This shift is shaped by the learning environment as well. Demoralised lecturers, under-resourced institutions, poorly maintained lecture halls, and a careless attitude among those responsible for education at policy level all weaken the culture of reading. When those tasked with nurturing intellectual growth appear disengaged, students draw conclusions about what matters.

At the same time, the language of problem solving and innovation education dominates public discourse. Young people are told that what matters is not what you know but what you can do. Startups are encouraged and sometimes funded, and the entrepreneurial student is celebrated.

There is value in this emphasis, but it has been overstated. The obsession with problem solving education creates a false divide between doing and knowing. Innovation grows out of knowledge, context, and disciplined thinking. Sustained innovation, especially in complex social and economic spaces, depends on deep understanding. That understanding is built on regular reading.

Even talented innovators who begin with instinct often rely on expert knowledge. When ideas expand, they encounter systems, regulations, markets, and human behaviour. At that stage, reading, research, and engagement with established knowledge become unavoidable. Talent alone rarely sustains innovation.

It is therefore misguided to push reading of major works to the margins of education. Problem-solving education does not justify neglecting foundational texts in any discipline. A society that sidelines reading risks producing graduates who can start ideas but cannot sustain or refine them.

Moreover, Artificial Intelligence with its ability to summarize texts and even convert books into audio, is reinforcing a culture of shortcut learning. Instead of engaging with full arguments, many learners are turning to condensed versions that promise quick understanding of an author’s main ideas. While convenient, this trend risks reducing complex works into simplified talking points, stripping away nuance, context, and intellectual struggle. Over time, this may produce a generation that appears informed but lacks depth

The current reading requirements attached to individual courses are, in principle, intended to cultivate a reading culture, but in practice they fall short for obvious reasons. On one side, the rise of AI tools encourages optimization, where students rely on easily generated drafts for passing exams. On the other, persistent unemployment erodes the perceived value of deep academic effort. Within this environment, university systems struggle to move students beyond minimal compliance toward genuine, consistent reading habits.

Rebuilding and reinforcing a reading culture calls for deliberate action.

Colleges, technical and vocational institutions, and universities should introduce structured reading courses or seminars at all levels of higher education. These spaces can guide students through major texts, strengthen critical thinking, and connect theory with practice. This is the one sure way of ensuring the optimization of Artificial Intelligence does not weaken reading.

-Dr Mokua is the Executive Director, Loyola Centre for Media and Communication