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Does ChatGPT dull your thinking skills? New MIT study shows why brains of youngsters are at risk

ChatGPT users got lazier with each subsequent essay, often resorting to copy-and-paste

OpenAI announces free ChatGPT Go access in India for one year. (Image: Express Image)

Your child may just lose the power of imagination to paint, words to express themselves and the ability to emote if they continue to use ChatGPT for their daily activities. Such overdependence, according to the latest study by MIT’s Media Lab, erodes critical thinking skills, memory and creativity, especially in younger users.

The study divided 54 subjects — 18 to 39-year-olds from the Boston area — into three groups, and asked them to write several essays using OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s search engine or nothing at all, respectively. Researchers used an EEG to record the writers’ brain activity across 32 regions, and found that of the three groups, ChatGPT users had the lowest brain engagement. They “consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic and behavioural levels.” Over the course of several months, ChatGPT users got lazier with each subsequent essay, often resorting to copy-and-paste by the end of the study.

How does reliance on ChatGPT impact the brain?

When individuals rely heavily on AI to generate content or answers, they tend to “offload” cognitive efforts to the AI. This means they engage less in deep, reflective thinking, analysis and independent problem-solving. This may weaken the brain’s ability to perform these tasks independently over time.

The MIT study also noted that essays written with ChatGPT lacked original content and often consisted of copied and pasted responses with minimal editing. Users also reported a fragmented sense of authorship and difficulty recalling what they had written, suggesting a lack of internal integration with the material.

How does over reliance on ChatGPT impact memory?

Participants who used ChatGPT struggled to recall their own work, even when later asked to rewrite essays without the tool. This indicates that the information was not being deeply processed or integrated into their memory networks.

This happens because of the reduced inclination to critically evaluate the AI’s output. This can also lead to an “echo chamber effect” where thoughts are subtly shaped by AI’s probabilistic guesses based on its training data rather than independent reasoning.

Why ChatGPT can at best be a complementary learning tool

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Earlier studies have shown how AI, when used as a complement to human thinking rather than a replacement, enhances learning. In the MIT study, too, it was seen that the “brain-only” group, when later given access to ChatGPT for a rewrite, demonstrated increased cognitive activity, implying that AI can be beneficial if foundational thinking is already in place.

The consensus seems to be that AI tools like ChatGPT are powerful assistants, but they should not become “cognitive crutches.” The integration of AI in education necessitates the cultivation of new competencies, including the ability to discern the limitations and potential biases of AI-generated content and to use AI tools effectively as aids in one’s critical thinking processes.

(Dr Ajinkya is psychiatrist, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Mumbai)