RE: https://mastodon.green/@gerrymcgovern/115650272749921009

One of this article's many great points: Using #GenAI is a "metacognitive mirage".

> When participants used #ChatGPT to draft essays, brain scans revealed [-47%] in neural connectivity across regions associated with memory, language, and critical reasoning. Their brains worked less, but they felt just as engaged
> Students aren’t just learning less; their brains are learning not to learn.

#cognitiveDebt #StochasticParrots #MRI #brainDevelopment

#Chatversity replaces learning with cheating.

Will AI Bury Future Generations in Cognitive Debt? https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/ai-destroying-traditional-career-automating-learning-by-doing-by-bertrand-badre-and-florian-ingen-housz-2025-10
"As companies seek to automate repetitive tasks in the name of cost-cutting, they should consider the longer-term implications. If we transfer all codified knowledge to machines, we will bequeath to future generations a world where it will be ever harder to learn by doing, to achieve mastery, and thus to aspire to creative freedom.

…Emerging markets and developing economies, which are leapfrogging straight to native, widespread #AI adoption, may view things differently. The #cognitiveDebt that we are leaving for younger people in advanced economies may be their opportunity. It will be our duty to pay attention. For now, though, acknowledging that the debt exists, and will grow, is the first step toward addressing it."
#economics

Part two of a three part series of the Artefacts newsletter - what does an LLM look like, and how does that help us think about how we use them?

https://buttondown.com/artefacts/archive/artefact-251/

#cognitivedebt #ai #llm

Smart people use AI to get smarter

The over-reliance on chatbots leads to something researchers call “cognitive debt,” where the ability to remember and analyze declines. On the other end of the spectrum, we find a growing number of people who use AI chatbots for accelerated learning.

#artificialintelligence #ai #chatbot #learning #cognitivedebt #technology #tech

https://www.computerworld.com/article/4032753/smart-people-use-ai-to-get-smarter.html

Fascinating MIT study. tl;dr using AI to do your writing makes you stupid(er).

Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task

https://www.media.mit.edu/publications/your-brain-on-chatgpt/

PDF file: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.08872

#CognitiveDebt

h/t Cal Newport's Deep Questions podcast, ep. 359

A good podcast that raises red flags about that MIT Media Lab paper

I felt a little sheepish suggesting that the writing in the Media Lab paper about “cognitive debt” and ChatGPT needed some work. Ashley Juavinett, Professor of Neurobiology at UC San Diego, and psychologist Cat Hicks have no such qualms. Their podcast, “You Deserve Better Brain Research,” addresses some serious problems with this “weird document,” from the writing to methods and research design. I’m putting it up here because I enjoyed and learned from it, and I hope others will, too.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0XLGvUjtmrdEtHVaYUBo5X

Type your email…

Subscribe

#artificialIntelligence #cognitiveDebt #dialogue #humanEncounter #LLMs #sharedCommitment

Cognitive Debt Crisis: How AI Undermines Critical Thinking

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/steanlab_cognitivedebt-ai-artificialintelligence-activity-7343286850259673088-nabN

#technology #tech #ai #cognitivedebt