Scientists have found that artificial intelligence may be affecting human brains more than previously understood. Research suggests that as machines take over more thinking tasks, people may become less able to scrutinise the truth of what AI tells them.
Increasing levels of AI-generated images and fake news stories have begun to place false details into people's brains, leading many to feel confident that events happened when they actually did not.
Experiment reveals weaker brain connectivity with AI use
Pattie Maes, a professor at the MIT Media Lab, told the Washington Post that she conducted an experiment where 54 people had to write SAT essays on various subjects. One group had no online tools, another could use Google without AI answers, and the third was able to use ChatGPT.
While tracking electrical activity in each group's brains, the differences showed that those writing without any AI aid had the strongest brain connectivity. Those who were allowed to use AI, however, showed the weakest connectivity and could not recall their own words when asked to later.
Experts warn of cognitive decline
The experiment has worried scientists, who suggest that the more humans use AI for basic thought, the more we could lose our basic cognitive ability.
Gideon Nave of the University of Pennsylvania noted: 'They are not using that mental muscle in the same way. If you don't use it, you lose it. What we are more likely to see is humans starting to decay instead of AI taking over.'
The Royal Observatory in Greenwich issued a sobering warning this spring, saying that the rise of AI tools could make humans less intelligent. Paddy Rodgers, director of the Royal Museums Greenwich group, said: 'A reliance solely on instant answers risks losing the habits of questioning and evaluation that underpin knowledge, expertise and innovation.'
