MIT study reveals troubling impacts ChatGPT has on human brain: 'Developing brains are at the highest risk' – The Cool Down
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“Extremely bad and detrimental.”
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A concerning new MIT study found that using ChatGPT to write essays had a highly detrimental impact on thinking and learning, particularly among the young.
Though the study has not yet been subject to peer review, its authors felt the urgency of its findings warranted its early release, Time reported.
“I’m afraid in 6-8 months, there will be some policymaker who decides, ‘Let’s do GPT kindergarten,'” said the study’s main author, Nataliya Kos’myna, per Time. “I think that would be extremely bad and detrimental. Developing brains are at the highest risk.”
Over the course of the study, researchers with MIT Media Lab monitored subjects’ brains, as they wrote a series of essays using either ChatGPT, Google search, or their brains alone. The results were stunning.
“Cognitive activity scaled down in relation to external tool use,” the study’s authors found.
Specifically, EEGs monitoring the brains of subjects who used ChatGPT to aid in their essay writing showed lower levels of focus and executive control compared to those using search or their brains alone.
Participants using ChatGPT demonstrated less retention of the subject matter and even of their own writing, with many of those using AI tools being unable to identify their own work later, the study found.
English teachers who graded the essays described the AI-assisted papers as generic and “soulless,” according to Time.
The results didn’t end there. Researchers also found that those who wrote with only their brains expressed the highest levels of ownership and satisfaction in their work.
“AI tools, while valuable for supporting performance, may unintentionally hinder deep cognitive processing, retention, and authentic engagement with written material,” the study’s authors concluded.
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“If users rely heavily on AI tools, they may achieve superficial fluency but fail to internalize the knowledge or feel a sense of ownership over it.”
As the study’s authors emphasize, our society finds itself at a “technological crossroads,” and it is important that we understand the ramifications of using AI tools before fully integrating them into our educational and informational systems.
This is particularly true considering the vast physical resources that AI tools consume.
The study’s authors cite a 2023 study that found using large language models like ChatGPT consumed 10 times as much energy per query as using search.
AI’s vast appetite for energy is the primary reason that data-center energy consumption, which accounted for 4.4% of all U.S. electricity use in 2023, is forecast to triple by 2028, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
From the risks it poses to learning and memory to its energy demands and environmental impact, AI raises a number of significant concerns. Researchers like those at MIT Media Lab have been racing to learn more about these potential effects before AI becomes even more ubiquitous in our lives.
By spreading awareness among the public and policymakers, we can make an effort to harness the best of what AI has to offer while minimizing its negative consequences.
In your own life, being thoughtful about the ways that you use AI tools can make a big difference in everything from your environmental impact to the way your brain functions to the amount of pride you take in your work.
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