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Your brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant

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Re: Your brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant

#101

Post by firstthrowaway »

EGreg wrote: post #58
softwaredoug wrote: post #32

Druids used to decry that literacy caused people to lose their ability to memorize sacred teachings. And they’re right! But literacy still happened and we’re all either dumber or smarter for it.

Druids? Socrates was famously against books far earlier. Funny enough, the reason he gave against books has now finally been addressed by LLMs.

Or, irony was being employed and Socrates wasn’t against books, but was instead noting it’s the powerful who are against them for their facilitating the sharing of ideas across time and space more powerfully than the spoken word ever could. The books are why we even know his name, let alone the things said.

Re: Your brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant

#102

Post by isolli »

mcv wrote: post #98

This seems to confirm my feeling when using AI too much. It's easy to get started, but I can feel my brain engaging less with the problem than I'm used to. It can form a barrier to real understanding, and keeps me out of my flow. I recently worked on something very complex I don't think I would have been able to tackle as quickly without AI; a hierarchical graph layout algorithm based on the Sugiyama framework, using…

This mirrors my experience exactly. We have to learn how to tame the beast.

Re: Your brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant

#103

Post by isolli »

carterschonwald wrote: post #86

idk, if anything I’m thinking more. The idea that I might be able to build everything I’ve ever planned out. At least the way I’m using them, it’s like the perfect assistive device for my flavor of ADHD — I get an interactive notebook I can talk through crazy stuff with. No panacea for sure, but I’m so much higher functioning it’s surreal. I’m not even using em in the volume many folks claim, more like pair programmi…

Indeed, I feel like AI makes it less lonely to work, and for me, it's a net positive. It still has downsides for my focus, but that can be improved...

Re: Your brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant

#104

Post by falloutx »

tuckwat wrote: post #45
falloutx wrote: post #20

I think a lot more people, especially at the higher end of the pay scale, are in some kind of AI psychosis. I have heard people at work talk about how they are using chatGPT to quick health advice, some are asking it for gym advice and others are just saying they just dump entire research reports into it and get the summary.

What does using a chat agent have to do with psychosis? I assume this was also the case when people googled their health results, googled their gym advice and googled for research paper summaries? As long as you're vetting your results just like you would any other piece of information on the internet then it's an evolution of data retrieval.

> As long as you're vetting your results

this is just what AI companies say so they are not held responsibly for any legal issues, if a person is searching for summary of a paper, surely they don't have time to vet the paper.

Re: Your brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant

#105

Post by fabdav »

bethekidyouwant wrote: post #50

I’m gonna make a new study one where I give the participant really shitty tools and one more give them good tools to build something and see which one takes more brain power

Agreed. "Reduced muscle development in farmers using a tractor mounted plow: Over four months, mechanical plow users consistently underperformed at lifting weights with respect to the control group who had been using spades. These results raise concerns about the long-term implications of tractor mounted plow reliance and underscore the need for deeper inquiry into tractor mounted plow role in farming."

Re: Your brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant

#106

Post by sevenzero »

isolli wrote: post #102
mcv wrote: post #98

This seems to confirm my feeling when using AI too much. It's easy to get started, but I can feel my brain engaging less with the problem than I'm used to. It can form a barrier to real understanding, and keeps me out of my flow. I recently worked on something very complex I don't think I would have been able to tackle as quickly without AI; a hierarchical graph layout algorithm based on the Sugiyama framework, using…

This mirrors my experience exactly. We have to learn how to tame the beast.

[flagged]

Re: Your brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant

#107

Post by samthebaam »

This has been the same argument since the invention of pen and paper. Yes, the tools reduce engagement and immediate recall and memory, but also free up energy to focus on more and larger problems.

Seems to focus only on the first part and not on the other end of it.

Re: Your brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant

#108

Post by culi »

My friend works with people in their 20s. She recently brought up her struggles to do the math in her head for when to clock in/out for their lunches (30 minutes after an arbitrary time). The young coworker's response was "Oh I just put it into ChatGPT"

The kids are using ChatGPT for simple maths...

Re: Your brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant

#109

Post by iammjm »

yndoendo wrote: post #70
netsharc wrote: post #21

An obvious comparison is probably the habitual usage of GPS navigation. Some people blindly follow them and some seemingly don't even remember routes they routinely take.

Some people have the ability to navigate with land markers quickly and some people don't. I saw this first hand with coworkers. We would have to navigate large builds. I could easily find my way around while others did not know to take a left or right hand turn off the elevators. That ability has nothing to do with GPS. Some people need more time for their navigation skills to kick in. Just like some people need to s…

I think it has much to do with the GPS. Having a GPS allows you to turn off your brain: you just go on autopilot. Without a GPS you actually have to create and update a mental model of where you are and where you are going to: maybe preplan your route, count the doors, list a sequence of left-right turns, observe for characteristic landmarks and commit them to memory. Sure, it is a skill, but it is sure to not be developed if there's no need for it. I suspect it's similar with AI-assisted coding or essay writing.

Re: Your brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant

#110

Post by wesleywt »

samthebaam wrote: post #107

This has been the same argument since the invention of pen and paper. Yes, the tools reduce engagement and immediate recall and memory, but also free up energy to focus on more and larger problems. Seems to focus only on the first part and not on the other end of it.

Without the engagement on the material you are studying you will not have the context to know and therefore focus on the larger problem. Deep immersion in the material allows you to make the connections. With AI spoon feeding you will not have that immersion.
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