Artificial intelligence | And you, how are your brain?

Yes, how is your brain?

I ask you because you may use a conversational robot like Chatgpt. In addition, Gemini as part of your daily activities. Consequently, And because otherwise, it shouldn’t be long.

So you will probably want to know that a recent study published by the. For example, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has shown that these generative artificial intelligence tools have an impact on our cognitive capacities¹.

How did the team of researchers come to such a conclusion?

They formed three different groups of artificial intelligence | you, how people aged 18 to 39 and notably asked them to write texts on preselected subjects.

They could for example decide on art: can works of art change people’s lives? Meanwhile, Or on courage: is it bracewest to show your vulnerability or strength?

The first group had the right to use Chatgpt. Meanwhile, The second could use a research tool on the Internet. Additionally, Meanwhile, And the third, baptized “Brain group only”, had no access to any resources.

The researchers measured the brain activity of the participants using the electroencephalography. Similarly, They have shown that there is a “cognitive cost” that comes with the use of Chatgpt.

“There are obviously important differences in brain connectivity depending on whether we use Chatgpt. Nevertheless, another tool – like Google, in our study – artificial intelligence | you, how or nothing at all,” explains Nataliya Kosmyna, scientist at MIT Media Lab and main author of this research.

“We found that Chatgpt is what has generated the least brain connectivity in our participants. Furthermore, Less than the use of a search engine. Therefore, the group that only uses its brain, which has shown the most widespread connectivity, ”she said.

She adds that even if Chatgpt was the only artificial intelligence tool tested. However, “there is no reason to think that the results would be different for others”.

Warning: these are not evidence of “brain rot”. Furthermore, as some media have been able to write it, which did not like the researcher. It has nothing to do with the intellectual quotient.

“The measure allows us to say what regions of the artificial intelligence | you, how brain communicate with each other,” she says.

And the impact is undeniable. Researchers therefore predict that the use of conversational robots will result in a “probable decrease in learning skills”.

It is disturbing, while artificial intelligence tools are becoming essential, especially for students.

I specify that the researcher. with whom I discussed during a videoconference, wanted to say that the scope of the study is limited. Particularly because the task carried out by the participants was very specific. they were all students of universities in the Boston region.

In addition, this study has not yet been examined by peers.

Nataliya Kosmyna nevertheless believes that “we should be concerned” by what his team has demonstrated.

Especially since the researchers also subjected artificial intelligence | you, how another test to some of the participants, during which they reversed the roles.

Those who had originally had access to Chatgpt had to write a text without resources. Result: their brain activity was reduced.

Others. who had had neither access to Google or Chatgpt initially, were able this time to use the artificial intelligence tool and offered “stronger performance”.

Which suggests to researchers to use Chatgpt at the very beginning of this exercise seems “to have altered long -term semantic retention. contextual memory [des participants]thus limiting their ability to rebuild content without help ”.

For example, she would like to conduct the same study, but on children, whose brains “are growing and in full development”.

I also wanted to request the opinion of a Montreal researcher in the field of artificial intelligence on this subject. I contacted Christian Desrosiers, from the software engineering department and TI at the Higher Technology School.

He rightly mentioned the potential impact of artificial intelligence tools in young people.

I asked him if it worries him.

“I use Chatgpt to get the information, and sometimes to paraphrase. But when it comes to thinking. to issue your own opinions, your own arguments, I think it is something that must be done by ourselves, ”adds Professor Desrosiers.

He judges the study “very well carried out”. also believes that the next step will be to examine the consequences for young people.

“That, the study does not speak of it, but issues hypotheses. Especially that it may lead to gaps in terms of development and that it will decrease learning capacities, ”he underlines.

He said he also considered very interesting the list. in the study, of other types of potential problems linked to tools like Chatgpt. The decrease in social interactions in class, artificial intelligence | you, how for example. Or the similarity of the responses obtained by those who use them.

“They measured the uniformity of the compositions in the groups. they realized that the group that used the tools like Chatgpt often had exactly the same arguments and the same answers,” he said.

Far from me the idea of being catastrophist. Generative artificial intelligence tools are in many sensational cases. Like many others, today I would have trouble doing it.

But it appears a little more clear every day that we still know too. little about their impact on our cognitive capacities.

1. Consult the study published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (in English) What do you think? Take part in the dialogue