Artificial Intelligence makes humans less intelligent
An experiment at Wharton College (University of Pennsylvania) showed that people who rely on AI-generated automatic summaries often give monotonous and concise advice, while the group that uses Google's traditional search results in richer, more sophisticated ideas.
Professor Shiri Melumad, who conducted the experiment, admitted the concern: To be honest, I am afraid that the younger generation will forget how to search and analyze information themselves.
That worry is not unreasonable. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), researchers found that ChatGPT users showed the lowest level of brain electricity activity when writing papers, allowing AI to do most of the work.
A minute after writing, 83% could not remember any sentences in the article. In contrast, manual writing groups or just using Google retain almost all of them.
Scientist Nataliya Kosmyna (MIT Media Lab) asked: "If you don't remember what you wrote, are you really interested in learning?".
brain disorders are a new disease of the social network era
In 2024, Oxford Literature chose brain rot as the word of the year, describing a state of mental decline due to low-quality social media addiction.
TikTok, Instagram and short video platforms are making people's brains familiar with immediate reality, losing the ability to concentrate and think deeply.
A study by the University of California, San Francisco (published in JAMA) that followed more than 6,500 children aged 913 showed that children who spend more than 3 hours a day on social media have much lower reading, memory and language scores than those who do not.
Every hour of surfing is an hour spent reading or sleeping, says Dr Jason Nagata, the leader of the study.
Learning to live with technology
In response, many schools in New York, Indiana, Louisiana and Florida have banned phones in classrooms to reduce distractions.
However, experts say that the role of AI and social networks cannot be completely denied and the important thing is how they are used.
At MIT, when students initially write in the brain and then use ChatGPT, brain activity increases sharply. That shows that AI can be useful if used after personal thinking, like how students use a computer after mastering the math formula.
Professor Melumad recommends: Let AI support answering small questions, not replace the entire learning process.
Reading, self-discovery and proactive thinking are still the best ways for the brain to maintain flexibility, in an era where technology is gradually changing people's thinking.
