A study led by researchers at prestigious universities such as Carnegie Mellon, Oxford and MIT has produced surprising findings about the "cognitive cost" of using artificial intelligence technology.
A new study has revealed that relying on artificial intelligence, even for a short period of no more than 10 minutes, can weaken human cognitive abilities and problem-solving skills.
During the study, the researchers divided the participants into two groups and asked them to solve mathematical problems involving fractions. The first group worked without any assistance, while the second group was given access to an artificial intelligence assistant for only ten minutes, after which this access was withdrawn to solve the last three problems.
As expected, the group that used AI performed better at solving problems during the assistance phase. However, the surprise came after the technology was withdrawn. Their performance dropped sharply, with their solution rate being 20% lower than the group that never used AI.
Moreover, participants who lost access to artificial intelligence were twice as likely to skip questions as those who never used it.
The study was not limited to mathematics; the researchers repeated the experiment to test reading comprehension and found similar results, with the difference that the assistance with artificial intelligence did not improve performance at the beginning as it did in the mathematics test.
But the researchers noticed something important: how the participants used the AI was the deciding factor. The results revealed that 61% of those assisted by the AI directly asked it for solutions, and these were the ones who subsequently experienced a sharp decline in performance.
Those who used artificial intelligence to obtain hints or clarifications only, without requesting a ready-made solution, did not suffer the same decline in their problem-solving abilities.
The researchers state in their study: "Just 10 to 15 minutes of interaction with AI can cause significant impairment in independent performance and persistence, two essential lifelong learning abilities." They add: "If short-term exposure produces such noticeable erosion, the cumulative effects of daily AI use over months or years could be profound and difficult to reverse."
Critics say that humans have already adapted to inventions that changed the way they think, such as calculators, GPS navigation systems, and smartphones, and none of these tools have been accused of causing a "dementia crisis".
But researchers emphasize that what distinguishes current artificial intelligence is that it is a "new kind of cognitive scaffolding," meaning that it is a system that solves anything, rarely refuses to help, and provides immediate answers, and this makes it different from any previous technology.
This study is not a call to abandon artificial intelligence, but rather to use it wisely: don't expect ready-made solutions from it, but use it as a tool to provide clues or clarifications, and rely on your own reasoning and problem-solving skills. Otherwise, you may pay a heavy price in terms of your mental abilities in the long run.
