Is AI making us dumber? Study reveals unexpected results of ChatGPT's impact on critical thinking

Scientists from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University in the United States conducted a study to understand how technology, and ChatGPT in particular, affects people's critical thinking. The results were quite unexpected.

According to scientists, it was especially important to consider this issue in relation to generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies such as ChatGPT, an AI chatbot, Phys Org writes. After all, about 300 million people use ChatGPT every week. And, according to the results recently published in an article, the answer to the question is rather "yes." Still, it is worth considering the issue in more detail.

The impact of AI on critical thinking

Researchers have assessed how users perceive the impact of generative AI on their own critical thinking. One way to do this is to evaluate their own thought processes according to established norms and methods of good reasoning. These norms include values such as accuracy, clarity, precision, breadth, depth, relevance, significance, and persuasiveness of arguments. Other factors that can affect the quality of thinking include the influence of our existing world views, cognitive biases, and reliance on incomplete or inaccurate mental models.

The point is that how AI affects the human mind depends on who uses it and for what purpose. As one of the latest studies on this topic shows, the higher the trust in artificial intelligence, the less critical thinking the user has.

The researchers interviewed over 300 professionals such in fields like healthcare, education, and engineering who discussed about 1,000 tasks they had completed using generative AI. The results showed that users use critical thinking not so much during the task execution as during the control at the checking and editing stages.

In addition, the study showed that people who trust artificial intelligence more tend to demonstrate less critical thinking, while people with more self-confidence tend to demonstrate more critical thinking.

This suggests that generative AI does not affect critical thinking, provided that a person has it from the very beginning.

Chalk and board made us better at math and writing. Can generative AI make us better at critical thinking? According to researchers, it is quite possible if we use generative AI to challenge ourselves and develop it. That is, the goal of using artificial intelligence should be to improve our critical thinking, not to let AI think for us.

Only verified information is available on OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Don't fall for fakes!