- Artificial intelligence has become an indispensable tool in everyday life, but it is a double-edged sword: it can make people lazier, intellectually speaking.
- A study addresses concerns that AI chatbots could stunt higher-order executive functions and supplant many human cognitive functions.
Artificial intelligence has been part of everyday life for some time now and has brought with it countless benefits to everyday life, facilitating tasks, providing ideas and improving many daily processes.
Now, despite all these abilities that help human beings, many experts say that it is a double-edged sword and is capable of making people lazier, intellectually speaking.
It is one of the things that Umberto León Domínguez, from the University of Monterrey, has raised in a study published in the journal Neuropsychology that makes it clear that AI could supplant many human cognitive functions and talks about the concern that AI chatbots could represent for higher order executive functions.
To make it even clearer: AI could make humans dumber over time.
Domínguez’s article warns of the risk of “cognitive download”, where humans could become overly dependent on AI, something that could lead to a deterioration in the ability to perform cognitive tasks independently.
In the end it is not a simple concern about becoming lazy thinkers, but rather the risk of stagnating cognitive development and problem-solving skills.
Artificial intelligence, broadly speaking, are machines programmed to imitate human intelligence. That is, reason, learn and solve problems. Ultimately, this concept of “technological singularity” suggests that AI could reach a point where it advances beyond human control, potentially merging human and artificial intelligence.
Already today, AI has become an indispensable tool in all areas thanks, above all, to its ability to process large amounts of information and offer fast and accurate solutions. And all this can cause humans to leave these big decisions in the hands of AI.
In the end, what needs to be done is to use artificial intelligence with balance. AI is a fabulous tool to improve decision-making and solve problems, but it is crucial to maintain a balance between the use of technology and the exercise of cognitive abilities.