Last March Openai recognized, after the completion of a study together with researchers from the Mit Media Lab Research, that excessive use Dand Chatgpt It can be associated with higher levels of loneliness. Now, a new research from the Technological Institute points out that the tool can negatively impact people’s cognitive abilities.
The study, published on the MIT website and on a dedicated page, has sought to determine the Cognitive cost of using large language models (LLM) before the wide and extended current adoption by consumers and companies of artificial intelligence products such as OpenAi Chatgpt.
The study has compared the drafting capacity or not the chatbot assistance
For this, it has analyzed the behavior of 54 subjects, with ages between 18 and 39 years and residents in the Boston area (United States), in the context of the writing of an essay. Three groups were established: Chatgpt was assigned, to another the Google search engine and the third proceeded without tools.
Three sessions were held at the time in which each subject had to prepare a text. And finally a fourth session was held in which the group that had used Chatgpt could not use any tool, while those who had not used tools, had to use a chatbot.
To analyze brain activity it was applied Electroencephalography in the face of collecting information about cognitive load and knowing better neuronal activations during the task. In addition, from the analysis, interviews with the participants were conducted after each session.
One of the main conclusions is that the three groups showed significantly different neuronal connectivity patterns and that Brain connectivity was systematically reduced with the amount of external support. Specifically, the group did not use any tool exhibited stronger neuronal connections; While the group that used Google showed an intermediate connection and those used by Chatgpt showed a weaker activity.
In this sense, of the three groups participating in the analysis, those used by Chatgpt presented the least brain activity and a lower performance at a neuronal, linguistic and behavioral level. In addition, the members of this group showed less capacity when remembering or cite the essays they had carried out.
Also, the members of this group delivered extremely similar essays, lacking originality and based on the same expressions and ideas. Two English teachers who evaluated the writings described them as “devoid of soul.” The analysis also reveals a low attentional concentration and low control in execution, that is, they just instructed Chatgpt.
Instead, the group that did not use any tool showed the greatest neuronal connectivity, especially in the Alfa, Theta and Delta bands, associated with creativity, ideation, memory load and semantic processing. The analysis also points out that this group was more committed and curious, felt more responsible and expressed greater satisfaction with its essays.
Research suggests that the use of conversational languages models could harm learning, especially in younger users. However, the main author, the researcher Nataliya Kosmyna, remembers that the sample size is relatively small and that the work is still being reviewed by other researchers.
Kosmyna also emphasizes that the analysis has been carried out in a Educational context with the intention of exploring the impact of artificial intelligence on learning and education. This attends. to the growing adoption of artificial intelligence tools by students.
Thought and learning ability could be affected in the long term
However, he points out that the findings raise the concern that, as society depends more and more artificial intelligence tools, long -term brain development could be sacrificed in the process.
Applied in the work environment, although other investigations state that AI can have a positive impact on productivity, a greater dependence on it could also reduce the critical thinking, creativity and problem solving in the workforce.
Along these lines, according to Time, the researcher considers that findings make a problem that currently affect childhood and adolescence and the development of her brains. “Educating how we use these tools and promoting that the brain needs to be developed more analogically is fundamental”; He commented.”We need active and synchronized and, even more important legislation, try these tools before implementing them”
