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Brain-to-LLM users exhibited higher memory recall and activation of occipito-parietal and prefrontal areas, similar to Search Engine users. Self-reported ownership of essays was the lowest in the LLM group and the highest in the Brain-only group. LLM users also struggled to accurately quote their own work. While LLMs offer immediate convenience, our findings highlight potential cognitive costs. Over four months, LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels. These results raise concerns about the long-term educational implications of LLM reliance and underscore the need for deeper inquiry into AI's role in learning.
All pretty obvious and expected, but the low-hanging fruit in terms of the study of the negative impact of AI is deserving of attention too, before we focus on discovering the more nuanced impact of this tech on our brains.
jsrozner on HN summarizes my thoughts well:
I wouldn't call it "accumulation of cognitive debt"; just call it cognitive decline, or loss of cognitive skills. And also DUH. If you stop speaking a language you forget it. The brain does not retain information that it does not need. Anybody remember the couple studies on the use of google maps for navigation? One was "Habitual use of GPS negatively impacts spatial memory during self-guided navigation"; another reported a reduction in gray matter among maps users.
Moreover, anyone who has developed expertise in a science field knows that coming to understand something requires pondering it, exploring how each idea relates to other things, etc. You can't just skim a math textbook and know all the math. You have to stop and think. IMO it is the act of thinking which establishes the objects in our mind such that they can be useful to our thinking later on.
Over four months, LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.
Any details on what this means?
Not surprising at all if the LLM users weren't able to recall their own llm-assisted writing, or had less ownership of it.
But it's a bit more surprising that one experimental treatment can have lasting impacts on overall cognitive levels over a four month period, unless those tests were directly related to the experimental treatment.
And, imo, it's also the biggest macro thing to worry about. Of course, LLM-assistance on a task will reduce our understanding of that specific task, but does it free up our time and mental energy to think about other tasks? Is the net benefit over all tasks greater than the cost on our ability to do specific tasks?
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But it's a bit more surprising that one experimental treatment can have lasting impacts on overall cognitive levels over a four month period, unless those tests were directly related to the experimental treatment.
I think the study ran over 4 months, with repeated sessions.
Don't want to appeal to authority, but the affiliation of the authors seems to indicate this was likely done thoroughly. Also, the fact it made number 1 spot on HN is not a bad indicator of quality.
208-page preprint... maybe we should ask AI to summarize it.
does it free up our time and mental energy to think about other tasks?
Yes. I often ask AI to give me a first summary of a paper before diving into the math myself.
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Not really doubting the thoroughness of the study, but just trying to understand how to interpret the results. Should I interpret the cognitive decline in a broad sense, or a narrower sense relating to the specific tasks presented in the experiment. Honest answer is I should probably just read the study haha
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