Researchers have conducted another study about AI and its effects on the human brain. The results were grim.

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/50596810

“We find that AI assistance improves immediate performance, but it comes at a heavy cognitive cost,” the study declares. Researchers went on to state that just ten minutes of using AI made people dependent on the technology, which led to worsening performance and burnout once the tools were removed.

The study followed people who use AI for “reasoning-intensive” cognitive labor. This refers to stuff like writing, coding and brainstorming new ideas, which are some of the most common use cases.

  • NostraDavid@programming.dev
    36·
    5 days ago

    These quotes are from the paper, not the article because fuck Engadget

    Although AI assistance improves performance during assisted sessions, people’s perfor- mance drops sharply once AI is removed.

    OK? So don’t remove the LLM - issue solved.

    More strikingly, relative to the controls, participants in the AI condition also persist less with tasks and give up more frequently.

    Is that bad? Sometimes you can persist on a solution for an issue that’s completely wrong. Yes, kneejerk reaction says it’s bad, but is it?

    People do not merely become worse at tasks, but they also stop trying

    Yeah OK, that last part is bad, I think.

    AI systems should optimize for long-term human capability and autonomy, a goal that cannot be achieved by surface-level interventions

    Oh yeah, absolutely - Models act intelligent, but aren’t reacting for long-term benefits. Only short-term answers.

    AI impairs unassisted performance and persistence.

    But the numbers also show that AI users skip less, and solve more issues. It is only when the LLM is removed that it becomes an issue - my question is: How long for this negative effect to fade? That’s unclear to me.

    The paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2604.04721