Now, let's do same exercise but with programming and over longer period of time. Would really like to present it to management that pushes ai assistance for coding
Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant for essay writing task
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Re: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant for essay writing task
#52I 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 rep…
> You can't just skim a math textbook and know all the math. You have to stop and think. And most importantly you have to write . A lot. Writing allows our brain to structure our thinking. Enables us to have a structured dialogue with ourselves. Explore different paths. Thinking & pondering can only do so much and will reach the limits soon. Writing, on the other hand enables one to explore thoughts nearly endlessly.…
I find this to still be true with AI assisted coding. Especially when I still have to build a map of the domain.
Re: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant for essay writing task
#53Now, let's do same exercise but with programming and over longer period of time. Would really like to present it to management that pushes ai assistance for coding
> Would really like to present it to management that pushes ai assistance for coding Your management presumably cares more about results, than your long term cognitive decline?
Re: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant for essay writing task
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Would really like to present it to management that pushes ai assistance for coding Your management presumably cares more about results, than your long term cognitive decline?
i guess one of the questions is how quick cognitive decline sets it and how it influences system stability (we have big system with very high sla due to nature of system and it takes some serious cognitive abilities to reason about it operation). if todays productivity is traded for longer term stability, i am not sure that it's a risk they would like to take
Thus protecting employees productivity in the long run doesn't necessarily help the company. (Unless you explicitly set up contracts that help there, or there are strong social norms in your place around this.)
Re: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant for essay writing task
#55Well, on the flipside of writing with AI, I've been making an app to read papers with AI! https://www.proread.ai/community/ab7bd00c-e017-4de2-b6fb-502... ; Please give me feedback if you try it!
Quite a nice interface, it reminds me of the static sites that Perplexity builds in Labs mode. Is it open source?
Re: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant for essay writing task
#56I 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 rep…
> You can't just skim a math textbook and know all the math. You have to stop and think. And most importantly you have to write . A lot. Writing allows our brain to structure our thinking. Enables us to have a structured dialogue with ourselves. Explore different paths. Thinking & pondering can only do so much and will reach the limits soon. Writing, on the other hand enables one to explore thoughts nearly endlessly.…
I’d love to see some sort of study on people who actively particulate writing their stuff on social media and those who don’t.
If u want to spare your mind from GPT numbness - write or copy what it tells you to do by hand, do not abandon this process.
Or just write code, programs, essays, poems for fun. Trust me - it is and you’ll get smarter and more confident. GPT is a very dangerous convenience gadget, is not going away like sugar or Netflix, or obesity or long commutes … but similarly dosage and counter measures are essential to cope with the side-effects.
Re: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant for essay writing task
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What is ranked as “top” is ultimately influenced by the priorities of the LLM's shareholders [123, 125]. As if that's anything new. There's the adage that's older than electronics, that freedom of the press is freedom for those who can afford to own a printing press. > However, this convenience came at a cognitive cost, diminishing users' inclination to critically evaluate the LLM's output or ”opinions” (probabilis…
Plato's sock puppet Socrates? I think that you and I have read different history books, or at least different books regarding the history of philosophy. That said, I would love to hear your perspective on this.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_problem
> Socrates was the main character in most of Plato's dialogues and was a genuine historical figure. It is widely understood that in later dialogues, Plato used the character Socrates to give voice to views that were his own.
However, have a look at the Wikipedia article itself for a more nuanced view. We also have some other writers with accounts of Socrates.
Re: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant for essay writing task
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
Such a good question - I hope someone answers with more than an anecdote (which is all I can provide) - I've found the skills that don't leave you like riding a bike, swimming, cooking are all physical skills. Tangible. The skills that leave: arguments, analysis, language, creativity often seem abstract and primarily if not exclusively sourced in our minds
Google "procedural memory". Procedural memory is more resistant to forgetting than other types of memory.
Re: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant for essay writing task
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The brain does not retain information that it does not need. Sounds very plausible, though how does that square with the common experience that certain skills, famously 'riding a bike', never go away once learned?
Riding a bike is a skill rather than what we would call a “memory” per se. It’s a skill that develops a new neural pathway throughout your extended nervous system bringing together the lesser senses of proprioception and balance. Once you bring these things together you then go on to use them for other things. You “know” (grok), rather than “understand” how a bike stays upright on a very deep physical level.
Re: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant for essay writing task
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Would really like to present it to management that pushes ai assistance for coding Your management presumably cares more about results, than your long term cognitive decline?
Good of you to suppose that engineers cognitive decline doesn't translate into long term impactful business challenges as well. I mean, once you truly don't know your product and its capabilities any longer, what's left for you to "sell"?
> Companies don't own employees: workers can leave at any time.
> Thus protecting employees productivity in the long run doesn't necessarily help the company. (Unless you explicitly set up contracts that help there, or there are strong social norms in your place around this.)