The human brain is an incredibly complex system, responsible for consciousness, intelligence, movement — essentially every function in the human body. To continue to perform at optimal levels, our brains constantly need help creating new pathways for neuroplasticity. Even in old age, we must embrace lifelong learning and mindfulness to keep our brains nimble. In support of this hypothesis, a new study has shown that using ChatGPT for essay writing, in lieu of doing it yourself, can cause a massive decline in cognitive ability and weaken brain connectivity.
Nataliya Kos’myna, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology embarked on a study investigating how generative AI models like ChatGPT could potentially affect brain connectivity and language use. The study delved into the key differences between essay writers who depend on search engines, the human brain, and generative AI models.
To achieve the study’s goals, the research team divided 54 respondents into three main groups: a group that used ChatGPT to write essays, another group that depended on information from search engines, and a final group that simply wrote essays from memory. As respondents wrote the essays, researchers used electroencephalography (a device that records and monitors brain activity) to measure brain activity.
After the essays were written, the researchers analyzed them and assigned scores using human and AI judges. The results are not surprising; participants dependent on AI tools showed the weakest level of brain connectivity, while respondents who wrote from memory exhibited the strongest level. It’s worth noting that participants who used search engines displayed moderate brain connectivity.
While AI could benefit humans in many ways, we should remember that its abuse can weaken our abilities to reason and think. Reputable scientific journals publish AI-generated junk science, and these fake studies rank highly on Google Scholar search engine. This study is another reminder that if we want artificial intelligence to improve our lives, we must avoid abusing its use and continue to scrutininze information using logic and reason.