People are losing their thinking skills by relying on artificial intelligence. If used incorrectly, technology can lead to cognitive decline. This is stated in a study by Microsoft, UNN reports.
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Artificial intelligence raises many questions and concerns, and a new study by Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University confirms the need for caution, indicating that AI may atrophy human cognition.
If used improperly, technology can lead to cognitive decline that should be preserved
The study involved more than 300 IT professionals
The study surveyed 319 information technology workers or employees who process data or information.
The goal is to find out how confident they are in the capabilities of artificial intelligence and how critically they have thought when using artificial intelligence to complete tasks.
Critical thinking has been defined as falling into one of six categories: knowledge (memorizing ideas), comprehension (understanding ideas), application (applying ideas to the real world), analysis (contrasting and connecting ideas), synthesis (combining ideas), and evaluation (evaluating ideas).
The surveyed intelligent workers used AI, such as ChatGPT, at least once a week and gave 936 examples of how they used AI at work, ranging from fact-finding to text summarization.
They mainly used critical thinking to establish clear clues, refine the clues, and verify the AI's answers to external sources.
Through their analysis, the researchers found that artificial intelligence can increase efficiency, but at the same time, AI disrupts cognition.
It was also determined that the more confident people were in the AI's ability to complete the task, the fewer critical thinking skills they used. People who were confident in artificial intelligence left the critical thinking to ChatGPT instead of doing it on their own and strengthening their cognitive abilities.