yacobchuk/GettyWhat was the last thing you asked an AI chatbot to do for you?
Maybe you asked for an essay structure to help answer a difficult question, provide in-depth analysis of a voluminous data set, or to check whether your cover letter matches the job description.
Some experts worry that outsourcing these types of tasks means your brain is working less and could even be harming your critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Earlier this year, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) published a study showing that people who used ChatGPT to write essays showed less activity in brain networks associated with cognitive processing while performing the exercise.
These people were also not able to cite their essays as easily as those in the study who did not use an AI chatbot.
The researchers said their study demonstrated “the pressing question of exploring a possible decline in learning abilities.”
The 54 participants were recruited at MIT and nearby universities. Their brain activity was recorded using electroencephalography (EEG), which involves placing electrodes on the scalp.
Some of the prompts used by participants included asking AI to summarize essay questions, locate sources, and refine grammar and style.
It was also used to generate and articulate ideas, but some users felt that the AI was not very good at this.
‘AI makes it too easy to find answers’
Separately, Carnegie Mellon University and Microsoft, which operates Copilot, found that people’s problem-solving skills could decline if they became too reliant on AI.
They surveyed 319 white-collar workers who used AI tools in their jobs at least once a week about how they applied critical thinking when using them.
They examined 900 examples of tasks assigned to AI, ranging from analyzing data for new insights to checking whether a job satisfies particular rules.
The study found that greater confidence in the tool’s ability to perform a task was related to “lower critical thinking effort.”
“While GenAI can improve worker efficiency, it can inhibit critical engagement with the job and can potentially lead to long-term overreliance on the tool and decreased independent problem-solving ability.”
UK schoolchildren were surveyed in a similar way for a study published in October by Oxford University Press (OUP).
It found that six in 10 felt AI had negatively impacted their abilities in relation to schoolwork.
So, with the massive explosion in AI use, are our cognitive abilities at risk of declining?
Klaus Vedfelt/GettyNot necessarily, says Dr. Alexandra Tomescu, a generative AI specialist at OUP who worked on the school survey.
“Our research tells us that nine in 10 students say AI has helped them develop at least one skill related to schoolwork, whether it’s problem solving, creativity or revision.
“But at the same time, about a quarter say that using AI made their job too easy… So [it’s] a rather nuanced image.”
He adds that many students want more guidance on how to use AI.
ChatGPT, which has more than 800 million weekly active users according to its boss Sam Altman, has published a set of 100 messages for students designed to help them get the most out of technology.
But Professor Wayne Holmes, who researches critical studies in artificial intelligence and education at University College London (UCL), says this is not enough.
He wants much more academic research to be done on the effects of AI tools on learning before encouraging pupils and students to use them.
He tells us: “Today there is no independent evidence at scale of the effectiveness of these tools in education, nor of their safety, nor even of the idea that they have a positive impact.”
Better results but worse learning?
Professor Holmes points to research into cognitive atrophy, where a person’s abilities and skills worsen after using AI.
He says this has been a problem for radiologists who use artificial intelligence tools to help them interpret X-rays before diagnosing patients.
A Harvard Medical School study published last year found that AI assistance improved the performance of some doctors but hurt others for reasons researchers don’t fully understand.
The authors called for more work to be done on how humans interact with AI so that we can find ways to use AI tools that “boost human performance rather than hinder it.”
Professor Holmes fears that students, whether at school or university, are becoming too reliant on AI to do their work for them and are not developing the fundamental skills that an education provides.
A student’s essay may receive better grades thanks to the help of AI, but the question is whether they end up understanding less.
As Professor Holmes says: “Their results are better, but their learning is actually worse.”
Jayna Devani, who leads international education at OpenAI, the company that owns ChatGPT, and helped secure a deal with Oxford University, says the company is “very aware of this debate right now.”
She tells the BBC: “We definitely don’t think students should use ChatGPT to outsource work.”
In his opinion, it is best to use him as a tutor and not simply as a provider of answers.
The example he gives is of a student exchanging ChatGPT using the study mode settings.
You enter the question you’re struggling to answer and the chatbot can break down its components and help you understand it.
The example he gives is of a student doing an assignment late at night on a topic he doesn’t fully understand.
“[If] You have an upcoming presentation to give and… it’s midnight, you’re not going to send an email to your [university] tutor and ask for help,” he says.
“I think ChatGPT really has the potential to accelerate learning when used specifically.”
But Professor Holmes insists that any student using artificial intelligence tools must be aware of how their reasoning works and how the companies that provide them handle data. He emphasizes that the results should always be checked.
“It’s not just the latest version of the calculator,” he says, describing the far-reaching capabilities and implications of AI.
“I never tell my students that they shouldn’t use AI… But what I do try to say is that we need to understand all these different things about it so they can make informed decisions.”
