Scientists Advise Against Using Artificial Intelligence Continuously for More than 15 Minutes

Researchers have found that excessive reliance on artificial intelligence assistants negatively impacts a person's independent thinking system.

Scientists from Carnegie Mellon, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Oxford, and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) conducted a joint experiment. The findings of the study were reported by the reputable popular science publication, WIRED.

As part of the scientific experiment, participants were divided into two groups to solve logical, mathematical, and textual tasks. The first group relied on artificial intelligence (AI) tools to solve the problems, while the second group conducted the tasks independently. The test results showed that participants who used AI assistants significantly degraded their performance after the technological support was withdrawn. Scientists point out that this phenomenon can be observed after just 10 to 15 minutes of working with neural networks.

Experts described this process as "cognitive outsourcing." This is the tendency of an individual to completely delegate analytical analysis and information retrieval functions to algorithms. Continuous cognitive outsourcing could lead to the following negative consequences in the future:

 Deterioration of short-term and long-term memory;

 Decrease in the level of cognitive focus and concentration;

 Weakening of critical thinking and independent decision-making skills.

Furthermore, the authors of the study emphasized that completely abandoning modern technology is not necessary. Artificial intelligence systems can be effective tools in production and educational processes; however, they should not entirely replace human intellectual labor, but merely perform an additional auxiliary function.