Scientists studying the impact of ChatGPT on our brains have revealed the results of their first study – and it's bad news for people who rely on the AI tool to get through their days.
It's fair to say that Artificial Intelligence tools have absolutely exploded over the past year.
From videos depicting street interviews, which are hard to distinguish from real life to students getting busted for turning in essays created by ChatGPT, it really feels like you can't escape the influence of AI these days.
As the technology continues to develop towards advanced models such as Artificial General Intelligence, more and more questions are being raised about the impact such tools are having on our cognitive abilities.
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A team of scientists and researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have now published their findings detailing how AI impacts our ability to learn, think and remember.
MIT's 'Your brain on ChatGPT' research revealed
In order to conduct the study, which is yet to be peer reviewed, researchers gathered 54 students and tracked their abilities over a series of essay writing tasks.
The groups were split into three, with one group was permitted to use ChatGPT and other large language models (LLM), the second group was permitted to use Google and the final group had to rely on 'brain only' methods to collect their research.
The students' cognitive abilities were tracked via electroencephalogram scans (EEGs).
And the results revealed a stark difference between those who rely on AI tools and those who don't, as students in the former camp displayed limited brain activity and a weaker memory.
The results also revealed that students who rely on AI 'struggled' when it came to quoting their own work and their brains showed signs of 'under-engagement.'
For the final part of the four-month study, the LLM and brain-only groups were instructed to swap and see how they performed on the same tasks.
Participants in the LLM-to-brain group still exhibited lower cognitive function, while the brain only to AI participants displayed an increase.
"Over four months, LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioural levels," the study noted.
"These results raise concerns about the long-term educational implications of LLM reliance and underscore the need for deeper inquiry into AI's role in learning.
"While LLMs offer immediate convenience, our findings highlight potential cognitive costs."
Researchers concluded by noting that further research is needed to fully understand the 'educational implications' regarding AI's role in learning.
The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the environment
Over-reliance on AI tools aren't just detrimental to our brains, but also the environment.
Recent data revealed that for every 10 to 50 queries you enter into ChatGPT, around 50cl of water is used to keep the servers cool.
Adding words such as 'please' and 'thank you' to your conversations could also be doing more harm than good, with OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman revealing that such interactions are costing the company 'tens of millions of dollars' in extra energy consumption.
Topics: AI, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, World News
Brenna Cooper