Look, we all know AI has both its advantages (e.g. offering convenient assistance, quick content, and sometimes reliable information) and disadvantages (e.g. stealing our jobs and potentially replacing humans altogether, but I digress).
However, one facet of AI that many people overlook is its impact on our cognitive abilities. A recent paper from researchers at Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University explored this exact concern.
“Used improperly, technologies can and do result in the deterioration of cognitive faculties that ought to be preserved,” the paper states.
The researchers added that “by mechanizing routine tasks and leaving exception-handling to the human user, you deprive the user of the routine opportunities to practice their judgment and strengthen their cognitive musculature, leaving them atrophied and unprepared when the exceptions do arise.”
work harder, not smarter?
In today’s fast-paced world, it’s hard to even find the time to sit and enjoy a simple cup of coffee in the morning. Working smarter rather than harder feels like the only way to keep up and survive sometimes.
Of course, we can cut back on our social media consumption and doomscrolling, but utilizing the tools we have in front of us, like AI, is merely a form of adapting. For example, rather than going to a library and scouring multiple books, spending hours searching for information and resources on a specific topic, we can now access that information almost immediately on the Internet. Could you imagine if that was never an option? I’d rather not.
Just because technology is convenient doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad. However, we do want to acknowledge the impact that it has on our brains and our cognitive abilities. This is especially true when it comes to generative AI, which is arguably the most concerning tech development in recent years.
The paper concluded: “While GenAI can improve worker efficiency, it can inhibit critical engagement with work and can potentially lead to long-term overreliance on the tool and diminished skill for independent problem-solving.”
Additionally, “Higher confidence in GenAI’s ability to perform a task is related to less critical thinking effort. When using GenAI tools, the effort invested in critical thinking shifts from information gathering to information verification; from problem-solving to AI response integration; and from task execution to task stewardship.”
This removes a bulk of our mind’s “dirty work,” so to speak—but is it forming a lazy habit for our brains?
AI could Be Making You Dumb, But That Might Be the Least of Your Worries
One can argue that outsourcing certain parts of our mental workload allows us to invest more energy into other things, like our creativity or emotional intelligence. However, overreliance on such technologies can, of course, have adverse effects.
The researchers concluded that their work “suggests that GenAI tools need to be designed to support knowledge workers’ critical thinking by addressing their awareness, motivation, and ability barriers.”
Look, if the world suddenly went totally off the grid and we had zero access to the Internet, we can pretty much guarantee we’d all be fucked—at least here in the US. But to be honest, our declining mental cognitive habits are really the least of our worries.
Source : https://www.vice.com/en/article/ai-makes-you-lazy-and-stupid-if-you-let-it/