Infosec specialist 🖥, former infosec consultant & Windows sysadmin , geek 👾
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants"
| Location | Finland |
| Pronouns | He/him |
| Twitter (not active anymore) | https://www.twitter.com/@larilehtomaki |
Hey all y'all need to stop using "guys" in mixed company.
- My trans girlfriend is not a guy.
- My cis girlfriend is not a guy.
- I'm not a guy (or a girl, but that's not relevant here).
Misgendering is misgendering—even if "everyone's doing it".
Patriarchy shouldn't be the default.
New study on the effects of LLM use (in this case on essay writing):
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.08872
Quote:
"LLM users also struggled to accurately quote their own work. While LLMs offer immediate convenience, our findings highlight potential cognitive costs. Over four months, LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels. These results raise concerns about the long-term educational implications of LLM reliance and underscore the need for deeper inquiry into AI's role in learning."
The interesting thing is: People who used search engines (to find sources etc) did not show similar issues. This is an important antidote against the belief that LLM-based tools are just like search engines. Which they are not. They are massively degrading their users' mental abilities and development. Which is why these systems have absolutely no place even _near_ any school or university.
This study explores the neural and behavioral consequences of LLM-assisted essay writing. Participants were divided into three groups: LLM, Search Engine, and Brain-only (no tools). Each completed three sessions under the same condition. In a fourth session, LLM users were reassigned to Brain-only group (LLM-to-Brain), and Brain-only users were reassigned to LLM condition (Brain-to-LLM). A total of 54 participants took part in Sessions 1-3, with 18 completing session 4. We used electroencephalography (EEG) to assess cognitive load during essay writing, and analyzed essays using NLP, as well as scoring essays with the help from human teachers and an AI judge. Across groups, NERs, n-gram patterns, and topic ontology showed within-group homogeneity. EEG revealed significant differences in brain connectivity: Brain-only participants exhibited the strongest, most distributed networks; Search Engine users showed moderate engagement; and LLM users displayed the weakest connectivity. Cognitive activity scaled down in relation to external tool use. In session 4, LLM-to-Brain participants showed reduced alpha and beta connectivity, indicating under-engagement. Brain-to-LLM users exhibited higher memory recall and activation of occipito-parietal and prefrontal areas, similar to Search Engine users. Self-reported ownership of essays was the lowest in the LLM group and the highest in the Brain-only group. LLM users also struggled to accurately quote their own work. While LLMs offer immediate convenience, our findings highlight potential cognitive costs. Over four months, LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels. These results raise concerns about the long-term educational implications of LLM reliance and underscore the need for deeper inquiry into AI's role in learning.
My partner has two (!!) best friends who frequently use #chatGPT. Not only do they use it, they use it as an oracle, a diviner, a settler of arguments between friends, a therapist for their children, a spiritual adviser. Scary, scary stuff.
They both feel personally attacked when she shares facts about the ownership, ecosystem, environmental and mental impacts, etc surrounding #llms.
Please, if you have any resources that might be helpful to them, or to my partner in attempting to #help them, please share.
🅰🅻🅸🅲🅴 (🌈🦄)
Jeff Atwood
b-rain
mcc
Ciarán McNally
David August ❌👑
Dr. Amy, Psy.D.
tante
Martin
sb arms & legs