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Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Using AI bots like ChatGPTcould be causing cognitive decline, new study shows
A new pre-print study from the US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that using OpenAI's ChatGPT could lead to cognitive decline. Researchers with the MIT Media lab broke participants into three groups and asked them to write essays only using ChatGPT, a search engine, or using no tools. Brain scans were taken during the essay writing with an electroencephalogram (EEG) during the task. Then, the essays were evaluated by both humans and artificial intelligence (AI) tools. The study showed that the ChatGPT-only group had the lowest neural activation in parts of the brain and had a hard time recalling or recognising their writing. The brain-only group that used no technology was the most engaged, showing both cognitive engagement and memory retention. Related Can ChatGPT be an alternative to psychotherapy and help with emotional growth? The researchers then did a second session where the ChatGPT group were asked to do the task without assistance. In that session, those who used ChatGPT in the first group performed worse than their peers with writing that was 'biased and superficial'. The study found that repeated GPT use can come with 'cognitive debt' that reduces long-term learning performance in independent thinking. In the long run, people with cognitive debt could be more susceptible to 'diminished critical inquiry, increased vulnerability to manipulation and decreased creativity,' as well as a 'likely decrease' in learning skills. 'When participants reproduce suggestions without evaluating their accuracy or relevance, they not only forfeit ownership of the ideas but also risk internalising shallow or biased perspectives,' the study continued. Related 'Our GPUs are melting': OpenAI puts restrictions on new ChatGPT image generation tool The study also found higher rates of satisfaction and brain connectivity in the participants who wrote all essays with just their minds compared to the other groups. Those from the other groups felt less connected to their writing and were not able to provide a quote from their essays when asked to by the researchers. The authors recommend that more studies be done about how any AI tool impacts the brain 'before LLMs are recognised as something that is net positive for humans.'
Spectator
6 hours ago
- Science
- Spectator
Is AI eating your brain?
Do you remember long division? I do, vaguely – I certainly remember mastering it at school: that weird little maths shelter you built, with numbers cowering inside like fairytale children, and a wolf-number at the door, trying to eat them (I had quite a vivid imagination as a child). Then came the carnage as the wolf got in – but also a sweet satisfaction at the end. The answer! You'd completed the task with nothing but your brain, a pen, and a scrap of paper. You'd thought your way through it. You'd done something, mentally. You were a clever boy. I suspect 80 to 90 per cent of universities will close within the next ten years Could I do long division now? Honestly, I doubt it. I've lost the knack. But it doesn't matter, because decades ago we outsourced and off-brained that job to machines – pocket calculators – and now virtually every human on earth carries a calculator in their pocket, via their phones. Consequently, we've all become slightly dumber, certainly less skilled, because the machines are doing all the skilful work of boring mathematics. Long division is, of course, just one example. The same has happened to spelling, navigation, translation, even the choosing of music. Slowly, silently, frog-boilingly, we are ceding whole provinces of our minds to the machine. What's more, if a new academic study is right, this is about to get scarily and dramatically worse (if it isn't already worsening), as the latest AI models – from clever Claude Opus 4 to genius Gemini 2.5 Pro – supersede us in all cerebral departments. The recent study was done by the MIT Media Lab. The boffins in Boston apparently strapped EEG caps to a group of students and set them a task: write short essays, some using their own brains, some using Google, and some with ChatGPT. The researchers then watched what happened to their neural activity. The results were quite shocking, though not entirely surprising: the more artificial intelligence you used, the more your actual intelligence sat down for a cuppa. Those who used no tools at all lit up the EEG: they were thinking. Those using Google sparkled somewhat less. And those relying on ChatGPT? Their brains dimmed and flickered like a guttering candle in a draughty church. It gets worse still. The ChatGPT group not only produced the dullest prose – safe, oddly samey, you know the score – but they couldn't even remember what they'd written. When asked to recall their essays minutes later, 78 per cent failed. Most depressingly of all, when you took ChatGPT away, their brain activity stayed low, like a child sulking after losing its iPad. The study calls this 'cognitive offloading', which sounds sensible and practical, like a power station with a backup. What it really means is: the more you let the machine think for you, the harder it becomes to think at all. And this ain't just theory. The dulling of the mind, the lessening need for us to learn and think, is already playing out in higher education. New York Magazine's Intelligencer recently spoke to students from Columbia, Stanford, and other colleges who now routinely offload their essays and assignments to ChatGPT. They do this because professors can no longer reliably detect AI-generated work; detection tools fail to spot the fakes most of the time. One professor is quoted thus: 'massive numbers of students are going to emerge from university with degrees, and into the workforce, who are essentially illiterate.' In the UK the situation's no better. A recent Guardian investigation revealed nearly 7,000 confirmed cases of AI-assisted cheating across British universities last year – more than double the previous year, and that's just the ones who got caught. One student admitted submitting an entire philosophy dissertation written by ChatGPT, then defending it in a viva without having read it. The result? Degrees are becoming meaningless, and the students themselves – bright, ambitious, intrinsically capable – are leaving education maybe less able than when they entered. The inevitable endpoint of all this, for universities, is not good. Indeed, it's terminal. Who is going to take on £80k of debt to spend three years asking AI to write essays that are then marked by overworked tutors using AI – so that no actual human does, or learns, anything? Who, in particular, is going to do this when AI means there aren't many jobs at the end, anyhow? I suspect 80 to 90 per cent of universities will close within the next ten years. The oldest and poshest might survive as finishing schools – expensive playgrounds where rich kids network and get laid. But almost no one will bother with that funny old 'education' thing – the way most people today don't bother to learn the viola, or Serbo-Croat, or Antarctic kayaking. Beyond education, the outlook is nearly as bad – and I very much include myself in that: my job, my profession, the writer. Here's a concrete example. Last week I was in the Faroe Islands, at a notorious 'beauty spot' called Trælanípa – the 'slave cliff'. It's a mighty rocky precipice at the southern end of a frigid lake, where it meets the sea. The cliff is so-called because this is the place where Vikings ritually hurled unwanted slaves to their grisly deaths. Appalled and fascinated, I realised I didn't know much about slavery in Viking societies. It's been largely romanticised away, as we idealise the noble, wandering Norsemen with their rugged individualism. Knowing they had slaves to wash their undercrackers rather spoils the myth. So I asked Claude Opus 4 to write me a 10,000-word essay on 'the history, culture and impact of slavery in Viking society.' The result – five minutes later – was not far short of gobsmacking. Claude chose an elegant title ('Chains of the North Wind'), then launched into a stylish, detailed, citation-rich essay. If I had stumbled on it in a library or online, I would have presumed it was the product of a top professional historian, in full command of the facts, taking a week or two to write. But it was written by AI. In about the time it will take you to read this piece. This means most historians are doomed (like most writers). This means no one will bother learning history in order to write history. This means we all get dumber, just as the boffins in Boston are predicting. I'd love to end on a happy note. But I'm sorry, I'm now so dim I can't think of one. So instead, I'm going to get ChatGPT to fact-check this article – as I head to the pub.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Indian Express
‘At least he's honest': UCLA grad flaunts use of ChatGPT at graduation ceremony, sparks debate online
Lately, ChatGPT and other AI assistants have become go-to tools for professionals. Many students, too, are using ChatGPT for everything – from emails and essays to getting entire assignments done. Now, one UCLA graduate has taken that reliance to a new level, going viral for openly acknowledging it at his graduation. In a video that has racked up over 38.7 million views on X, the student proudly pulls out his laptop and displays ChatGPT – the very tool he says helped him complete his final projects – just moments before receiving his degree. The clip was shared by @FearedBuck with the caption: 'UCLA graduate celebrates by showing off the ChatGPT he used for his final projects right before officially graduating.' UCLA graduate celebrates by showing off the ChatGPT he used for his final projects right before officially graduating 😭 — FearBuck (@FearedBuck) June 18, 2025 However, not everyone found the celebration amusing. Some users expressed serious concern over students relying so heavily on AI tools like ChatGPT. One user wrote, 'Start eating healthy and working out because your future doctor is doing this same exact thing.' Another commented, 'WE DIDN'T HAVE CHATGPT WHEN I GRADUATED!!!!' A third user said, 'Our future doctors really gon have one AirPod in asking ChatGPT how to do open heart surgery.' But not all reactions were critical. One user defended the graduate's honesty, saying, 'People can hate but at least he is honest. You all know 98% of the people in that graduating class did the exact same thing. The other 2% didn't graduate.' The debate comes on the heels of a groundbreaking study conducted by researchers from MIT Media Lab, Wellesley College, and MassArt, which examined the cognitive effects of using AI tools like ChatGPT for academic writing. In the study, students were asked to write essays – some using ChatGPT, some using Google Search, and others relying solely on their own knowledge. Brain activity was monitored throughout the process. The results were eye-opening. Researchers found that students who used ChatGPT showed less brain activity, retained less information, and were less mentally connected to their writing. While AI undeniably makes things more efficient, the study suggests it could be contributing to a troubling trend: intellectual detachment and dependence.
International Business Times
2 days ago
- Science
- International Business Times
"ChatGPT May Be Making Us Think Less, Learn Less": MIT Study Warns
It has been only a few months since the generative artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT has become popular to the extent of being inseparable from our daily lives, but several people, including the initial faces behind developing AI have already warned against the excess use of it for various reasons. Now a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has warned against the use of this popular chatbot, which has revolutionized human interaction with machines. A new study from MIT Media Lab is raising questions about the mental cost of relying on AI tools like ChatGPT to take on complex tasks, including writing essays. The study finds that although such devices could increase productivity, they may actually be diminishing people's capacity for critical thinking, retaining information, and learning. Titled "Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task", the study states that an excessive dependence on large language models (LLMs) may cause "cognitive offloading." The study recruited 54 university students from the greater Boston area who were split into three groups. One used ChatGPT, another used a regular search engine such as Google, and the third had to rely solely on its own knowledge, without any outside referential sources. The participants had to write essays while the researchers recorded their brain activity using EEG devices. The results were eye-opening. The most thoughtful students, the ones doing the most vigorous brainwork, were using only their brains. Search engines were not far behind. But the ChatGPT users showed the weakest brain connectivity and least mental effort. Even worse, when these A.I. users had to write on their own, sans assistance, they couldn't reactivate the brain parts required for deep thinking. Memory performance also suffered badly. When researchers asked them to quote passages from their own essays, not a single one of ChatGPT's users was able to share even a single verbatim sentence. In contrast, 88% of individuals who used their own brain or a search engine could recall parts of their own work easily. Many AI users even admitted feeling disconnected from what they had written. It was interesting because when judged by human and AI judges, essays generated by ChatGPT had high scores in grammar and structure. However, they lacked originality and depth. Common patterns, repeated phrases, and a lack of critical reasoning were noted. In contrast, essays by brain-only writers exhibited a greater diversity of thought and language. Lead researcher Dr. Nataliya Kosmyna said that while AI tools are helpful, they risk undermining in-depth learning and "creative thinking." The team cautioned educators to be careful, noting that AI-supported writing could lead to "productive yet passive" learners.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Science
- Hindustan Times
ChatGPT use may weaken critical thinking and memory, suggests new MIT study
A recent study by researchers at the MIT Media Lab has raised concerns over the impact of ChatGPT on young people's cognitive engagement and learning. Conducted over several months, the study involved 54 participants aged 18 to 39 from the Boston area. Each was asked to write SAT-style essays using either ChatGPT, Google Search, or no digital tool at all. The findings were striking. EEG scans tracking brain activity across 32 regions showed that participants using ChatGPT demonstrated the lowest levels of brain engagement. These users 'consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioural levels,' according to the researchers. Over time, the ChatGPT group grew increasingly passive, often resorting to copy-paste methods by the end of the study. Also read: Nvidia employee gives Indian parents tour of US office, internet moved by photo Lead researcher Nataliya Kosmyna explained why she chose to publish the findings before peer review. 'What really motivated me to put it out now before waiting for a full peer review is that I am afraid in 6–8 months, there will be some policymaker who decides, 'let's do GPT kindergarten.' I think that would be absolutely bad and detrimental,' she said. 'Developing brains are at the highest risk.' Participants in the 'brain-only' group, those who wrote essays without any assistance, showed the highest neural connectivity, particularly in the alpha, theta, and delta bands associated with creativity, memory, and semantic processing. This group also expressed more curiosity, ownership, and satisfaction with their work. Those using Google Search also exhibited high engagement and satisfaction. According to the researchers, this difference is notable as more users now turn to AI chatbots instead of traditional search engines to find information. After completing the essays, participants were asked to revise one of their earlier drafts. Those in the ChatGPT group, now writing without the tool, struggled to recall their previous work and showed lower brainwave activity. 'The task was executed, and you could say that it was efficient and convenient,' Kosmyna said. 'But as we show in the paper, you basically didn't integrate any of it into your memory networks.' In contrast, the brain-only group, when given access to ChatGPT for the rewrite, demonstrated increased brain connectivity, suggesting that AI can enhance learning if used after active, independent thinking. While the study has not yet been peer reviewed and involved a relatively small sample, it adds to a growing body of research at MIT examining the broader impact of generative AI. Previous studies from the lab have also linked extended AI use with increased feelings of loneliness. Also read: 'Complete breakdown during video call': Bengaluru man hospitalised after CEO's brutal outburst
