Every prompt may be coming at the cost of cognitive efficiency and creativity.
When MIT researchers asked students to write essays with and without ChatGPT, the outcomes were concerning: 83 percent of those who used AI to draft their work couldn’t recall a single sentence, even though they had written it just minutes before.
The AI-induced amnesia exemplifies more than just a side effect of artificial intelligence. ChatGPT and similar AI-powered tools are now used daily and widely for everything from emails to essays. Yet, as the new study indicates, we may be sacrificing cognitive capacity and creativity for short-term convenience.
AI-Induced Amnesia
The MIT study included 54 participants from the Boston area. The students wrote essays under three conditions: using ChatGPT, using Google for research, or drawing entirely on their knowledge and reasoning. The researchers examined them in terms of memory, neural activation, and feelings of ownership.
Memory deficit was just one part of a broader pattern.
When researchers monitored brain activity, they discovered that AI users showed significantly decreased neural engagement. The brain-only writers generated nearly double the amount of connections in the alpha frequency band, associated with focused attention and creativity, compared to ChatGPT users.
In the theta band, related to memory formation and deep thinking, the gap was greater: 62 connections for the brain-only writers versus 29 for those using AI.
Like GPS systems that gradually erode our navigation abilities, AI writing tools give way to our brain’s natural tendency to conserve energy by stepping back when an external system handles cognitive work.
In and of itself, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. After all, we build tools and technologies to delegate processes and conserve effort. However, when it comes to the MIT findings, where students forgot what they wrote just minutes before, it’s concerning, said Steven Graham, a regents and Warner professor in the Division of Leadership and Innovation at Arizona State University’s Teachers College, who researches how writing affects learning.
Students are supposed to be using writing as a tool for learning, he said. “If you can’t recall the basic information in your texts, it begs the question, ‘What did you learn?’”
People who overuse ChatGPT for routine cognitive tasks deprive their memory of the essential stimulation it needs to stay fit, said Mohamed Elmasry, emeritus professor of computer engineering at the University of Waterloo, who writes about AI use and human intelligence.
“Yes, even though the human brain is an organ with no moving parts, it still needs exercise!” Elmasry said. He worries that reliance on AI technology could lead to more concerning long-term effects.
