In Science-speak…
the title of this post should be:
10 Ways in which AI can weaken Human Cognitive Abilities!
Since the results of the MIT study were published, I see the above statement repeated all over the Internet. In LinkedIn posts, in newspaper articles, and everywhere else too, and we are already becoming immune to it.
Mostly because we aren’t processing the term, “human cognitive abilities,” and because the statement euphemistically uses the word “weaken” instead of “destroy”
What are “Human Cognitive Abilities”?
Human cognitive abilities are the mental skills that allow us to learn and, hence, think, reflect, analyze, reason, create, innovate, and invent. If we didn’t have any of these abilities (or let’s say, the development of these abilities was stalled by an act of the devil – a deadly virus, perhaps), we wouldn’t have come up with Artificial Intelligence either.
And What’s a “Zombie”?
In the context of this post, a Zombie is a person who seems only partly alive, without any feeling or interest in what is happening.
Anyway, back to human cognitive abilities, which span several other abilities/functions including our ability to remember/recall, perceive and sense, use language, make decisions and so on. Without our cognitive abilities, we won’t be able to classify the information that we receive through our senses, process it by interconnecting the information pieces, which in turn would make it difficult for us to adapt to situations and interacting fruitfully with our environment.
Thus, with our cognitive abilities considerably weakened, we would reverse-evolve into primarily physical beings driven mostly by the needs sitting at the base of Maslow’s hierarchy (the physiological needs and safety/security needs; perhaps some bit of family/belongingness needs too).
However, with our cognitive abilities whittled down to the bare minimum, we’ll probably be happy munching on the hand-me-downs. Recall the movie Alive (1993), based on the Andes Flight disaster, where some of the survivors who had taken to cannibalism to survive, became comfortable with the idea of snacking on the meat of their fellow passengers as they whiled away their time. When our higher needs are taken away, that is what remains of us.
Over-reliance on GenAI may do just that to humanity, but why, and how?
The Real and Imminent Ill-Effects of Over-using Gen-AI
Well, here’s a “simplified” list of the effects that the over-use/misuse of AI would result in:
1. Our Brain loses its “muscle” and starts wasting away!
When we look for information, compare resources, check for their credibility, our brain gets busy assessing, reviewing, reflecting – strengthening our existing synaptic connections and building new ones. If we offload these activities to AI, we steal our brain’s opportunity to strengthen itself and become smarter.
2. We gradually Stop Assessing, Reflecting, and Discussing.
When we over-rely on the output generated by AI and accept the output (or pass it on) without questioning it – assuming that if the all-knowing AI god has generated it, it must be correct; we lose not only our ability to analyze but also our ability to confidently put our ideas across. The fog of self-doubt makes us stumble.
3. We forget faster!
Why? Well, because we don’t “have to” remember anything anymore. Just ask AI. Over time, the choice (I don’t need to remember) turns into a habit (I can’t remember). Our memory is one of the important measures of our intelligence, and it requires training to stay in shape. It’s our memory that allows us to process the incoming information quickly and make important decisions on time.
Think of a surgeon who can’t remember what kind of sutures he must use to close a particular kind of wound, or an instructional designer who doesn’t remember the methods of gaining and sustaining the learner’s attention, or even a cook who doesn’t remember the ingredients to prepare biryani, and so on. And even if we have AI-Bot combine working for us, we don’t remember the smell of rain, the sounds of our childhood…
4. We feel lost in the face of a new challenge.
Even though most of the problems in the world appear to have been worked out, as we go through life, we meet several new challenges. Becoming habituated to using AI makes us go blank in the event of real-life problems, because our brain has been delegating most of its problem-solving to AI. What happens when are faced with a “new” problem? Nothing. Our brain just won’t know how to solve it.
Imagine coming across an accident on the highway, late at night – one person is dead, the other barely alive. Will you be able to give her first aid? Will you be able to think of ways to transfer her to your car, alone? Today, you’ll think of several ways, because your brain is creative, but if you continue to seek AI’s “instant help” for every project that requires you to think, you will feel lost when caught in a never-before situation.
5. We don’t feel inspired to be creative or original anymore!
- What it means for us as humanity: The amazement in seeing what novelties the human brain can produce will disappear. We won’t gasp at a beautifully written piece of poetry anymore, because AI can do everything anyway. Since AI recycles knowledge, over time, we would’ve seen and read everything.
- What it means for the creator in us: Since creators will know that their original work will flow into the ocean of the Great Talent Equalizer anyway, they will not work hard to build their talent to come up with original thoughts or methods anymore. All human creativity will be channelled into “asking” AI to build something that will still be starkly different from what you had imagined in the first place.
6. We become more biased and less rational.
AI has learned from the humans of the past, and the past of humanity isn’t just about our successes but also about our failures. Humanity’s past is also about our beliefs (variable, erroneous, or otherwise,) intolerances, and several other attributes that define us. Even though we’d love AI to be an angel, it will, in all probability be just a faster, smarter copy of humans. Since we are already interacting with AI substantially, and the younger generations will be connecting with it more and more, AI’s biases (which it is “acquiring” from us) will be transferred back to us, magnified and exaggerated.
7. We can’t retain knowledge for longer durations!
Learning stays longer when it’s mulled over and gets a chance to settle in deeper into our minds and grow roots. Since AI is forever accessible, anywhere anytime – we can use it to instantly clarify any doubt we have. The knowledge thus acquired is seen/heard/read but it doesn’t grow roots. It vanishes as quickly as it had appeared, because throughout this learning process, the learner is a passive recipient of that knowledge and doesn’t participate actively in their quest for the correct answer.
8. We Lose our Learning Skills.
Learning is a skill that’s perfected by each one of us differently. This is why we all have our own special learning methods – methods that work best for us individually. However, when we let AI supply us with instant answers, we stop fine-tuning our learning processes. (The term metacognitive laziness refers to this phenomenon.)
9. We react more slowly (think slow-mo) to emergency situations
We react to emergencies and other unexpected situations quickly because of a complex web of diverse factors. These could be cognitive (thought-process related), genetic/hereditary, biological (age/gender related), and environmental. We often consider a unidirectional impact of AI (on the functioning of our brains) but we forget certain other influences it has and will have. Take the example of using maps, or self-driving cars, or bots that do (or will do) certain jobs for us. With all our environmental interactions using a layer of technology in the middle, our reactions will become slower.
10. We stop connecting with other humans for our emotional needs.
We stop forming meaningful connections with other humans. Instead, we connect with AI (and in not so distant future, with AI-powered robots) for fulfilling our love and belongingness needs (Maslow’s Hierarchy). We become increasingly dependent on technology and stop existing as a purely human species.
The above are some of the effects that overuse of AI may have on our cognitive abilities. Now here’s something that we must understand.
A. Avoiding AI will soon not remain an option. If you are in the workforce or are soon going to start seeking employment, you will have to use it, so that you remain relevant and competitive.
B. Using AI results in our becoming used-to it comfort and ease (quite like the air-conditioner, but with far more serious side-effects) – so if you don’t control and direct its use, you will soon find your brain becoming lazier.
The synergistic alliance between AI and robots may lead humans into oblivion. We need to wrest back control now.
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