MIT Media Lab study suggests ChatGPT users may erode critical thinking and creativity, highlighting the potential for long-term dependency on AI tools in education.
ChatGPT users are getting dumber? A recent MIT Media Lab study suggests that heavy use of ChatGPT may erode critical thinking and creativity. In the experiment, 54 subjects wrote SAT-style essays using ChatGPT, Google, or no tools at all. EEG brain scans revealed that ChatGPT users had the lowest neural engagement, underperformed in language use, and showed declining effort over time. The study’s lead, Nataliya Kosmyna, warns that long-term dependency on LLMs like ChatGPT could compromise learning and cognitive development—especially in younger users. Although the study isn’t peer-reviewed yet, the findings are raising serious concerns. Is convenience coming at the cost of deep thought? This video explores the shocking implications of AI in education and what it means for our brains in the long run.
The paper suggests that the usage of LLMs could actually harm learning, especially for younger users. The paper has not yet been peer-reviewed, and its sample size is relatively small. However, its main author, Nataliya Kosmyna, felt it was important to release the findings to elevate concerns that as society increasingly relies upon LLMs for immediate convenience, long-term brain development may be sacrificed in the process.
The MIT Media Lab has recently devoted significant resources to studying the different impacts of generative AI tools. Studies from earlier this year, for example, found that generally, the more time users spend talking to ChatGPT, the lonelier they feel.
Kosmyna, who has been a full-time research scientist at the MIT Media Lab since 2021, wanted to specifically explore the impacts of using AI for schoolwork because more and more students are using AI. She and her colleagues instructed subjects to write 20-minute essays based on SAT prompts, including about the ethics of philanthropy and the pitfalls of having too many choices.
The study found that the group that wrote essays using ChatGPT all delivered extremely similar essays that lacked original thought, relying on the same expressions and ideas. The EEGs revealed low executive control and attentional engagement. By their third essay, many of the writers simply gave the prompt to ChatGPT and had it do almost all of the work.
The brain-only group showed the highest neural connectivity, especially in alpha, theta, and delta bands, which are associated with creativity ideation, memory load, and semantic processing. Researchers found this group was more engaged and curious, claimed ownership, and expressed higher satisfaction with their essays.
This is the first pre-review paper that Kosmyna has ever released. Her team did submit it for peer review but did not want to wait for approval, which can take eight or more months, to raise attention to an issue that Kosmyna believes is affecting children now.
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