An artistic rendering of the human brain undergoing atrophy in cyberspace. (Image credit: Flavio Coelho via Getty Images)
A new study warns that artificial intelligence (AI) may be negatively impacting users' critical thinking skills, making them less intelligent.
The study, conducted by Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University, surveyed workers in business, education, the arts, administration, and computing. The results showed that those who relied most on the accuracy of AI assistants were less critical of the conclusions made by these tools.
While this isn’t particularly surprising, it highlights the dangers of AI’s growing influence in our lives: As we come to trust machine learning tools more, they can create dangerous content that goes undetected. The researchers will present their findings at the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing later this month and publish a paper, which hasn’t yet been peer-reviewed, on Microsoft’s website.
“When used incorrectly, technology can and does degrade cognitive abilities that need to be preserved,” the researchers note in the paper. “The ultimate irony of automation is that by mechanizing routine tasks and leaving exceptions to human judgment, we deprive the user of opportunities to regularly practice judgment and develop cognitive skills, leaving them atrophied and unprepared for real exceptions.”
For the study, the researchers surveyed 319 knowledge workers (professionals who create value through their knowledge) through the crowdsourcing platform Prolific.
Respondents, whose job roles ranged from social work to programming, were asked to provide three examples of how they had used generative AI tools like ChatGPT in their work. They were then asked whether and how they had used critical thinking skills to complete each task. They were also asked about the effort it would have taken to complete the task without AI and their confidence in completing the work.
The results showed a significant decrease in self-assessment of critical thinking towards the AI's performance: participants noted that they did not use critical thinking at all when performing 40% of their tasks.
This is far from the only evidence of the detrimental effects of digital addiction on human cognition. Research has shown that ChatGPT’s most active users are so addicted to the chatbot that time spent without it can cause withdrawal symptoms. Short videos, like those found on TikTok, reduce concentration and slow the development of neural circuits associated with information processing and executive control.
These problems appear to be more pronounced among young people, among whom AI use is widespread, often used to write essays and bypass the need for critical thinking.
This isn't news—the Google effect, in which users hand over their knowledge to the search engine, has been known for decades—but it highlights the importance of being critical of the mental tasks we delegate to error-prone machines, lest we lose the ability to do them altogether.
“The data show a shift in cognitive effort as knowledge workers increasingly shift from task execution to control over GenAI use,” the researchers wrote. “While AI may improve productivity, it may also reduce levels of critical engagement, particularly in routine or less significant tasks where users simply rely on the AI, raising concerns about long-term dependency and decreased ability to solve problems independently.”
Sourse: www.livescience.com
