Is AI making us stupid?
I hate to say it and I don't want to sound pessimistic (but it's probably happening already :D)...
with all the conveniences we have, we are so fast and unfortunately also comfortable.
Have you noticed that when using Chat GPT or AI you don't even bother to think anymore?
So I use it to get information and I think I'm learning something, but I don't know if I'm really learning anything when AI does everything for me.
It's like a modern calculator that gives you the result without you understanding the processes and structures behind the calculations.
Is AI making us stupid? How do you approach using AI so that you still can learn and "use" your brain more actively?
IMO this will be a huge thing for the next generations and kids because if they rely too much on AI, they can become either geniuses or very lazy and illiterate people.
@sentry_co @gabe It can narrow our focus and make the processes faster, that is a sure thing. My doubt, however, is that the vast majority of "average" people have no need to think critically or go deeper.
Unfortunately, this majority of people take over the world because they are "the majority".
And this is then transcribed into everyday life in the form of politics, fighting, culture (how we treat each other), etc.
Tech people and people with high ambitions can benefit from that and the rest (the majority) will waste a lot of potential.
The majority is irrelevant in the automation age I am afraid. Techno feudism will be absolute. Unless we implement minute democracy system wide. Which will probably happen. Already the swiss has direct democracy like this. I see brewings of this emerging elsewhere as well. Probably a reaction to the times.
@sentry_co it takes time. While others fight for democracy, others will suppress it and that's what makes us unequal on the global level "surprisingly."
@sentry_co @gabe Yeah, that’s exactly it, it’s not making us dumb, but it’s rewiring how we approach effort. We get used to shortcuts, and suddenly, the manual way feels unbearable.
The library example is spot on. AI is like having an instant search + summary tool, but if we rely on it too much, we forget how to dig deeper and connect ideas ourselves. The real challenge is using AI as a tool, not a crutch.
Have you noticed any areas where AI has made you worse at something you used to do manually?
Haha this a brilliant post. Funny, I was thinking that this morning. I typed in a prompt and it gave me rubbish back. (Could that be rubbish in, rubbish out? Maybe but even still).
It made me think, will we even think properly and critically anymore?
@lisa_steingold1 Let's imagine people blindly rely on things that ChatGPT will tell you. Without questioning or needing to know the background behind that. And let's imagine a ChatGPT full of promoted content, conspiracy theories etc. What will be the result for people using it? Decreasing they quality maybe. There will be a huge knowledge and critical thinking gap.
@busmark_w_nika I shudder to think! (excuse the pun). Let's all make fact checking and thinking a priority everyone!
@lisa_steingold1 Good question! I think we need to be more aware of how much thinking we’re outsourcing to AI without even realizing it. Maybe the key is to force ourselves to think and write more on our own, even if it takes longer or isn’t as “perfect” as AI would make it.
Long-term, that struggle is probably what keeps our brains sharp. Otherwise, we might just become really efficient at copy-pasting. 😅
@lisa_steingold1 @hussein_r copy pasting happens a decade. Some university students are a good example :D
Here's what ai answered :D
The debate over whether AI is making us stupid is complex and involves various perspectives. A new study suggests that frequent use of AI can lead to cognitive offloading, where users rely on technology for problem-solving and decision-making, potentially reducing their critical thinking skills.
However, proponents argue that AI can enhance efficiency and effectiveness without diminishing human intelligence.
To use AI in a way that still allows for active brain engagement, it's crucial to maintain a balance.
Here are some strategies:
Verify AI Outputs: Always cross-check information provided by AI tools with other reliable sources to ensure accuracy.
Critical Thinking: Engage critically with AI-generated data by questioning its validity and considering alternative interpretations.
Skill Development: Use AI as a tool to enhance learning and skill development rather than a replacement for it. For example, AI can help with initial research, but the analysis and synthesis of information should be done by humans.
Human Oversight: In high-stakes fields like law and forensics, human expertise must remain the cornerstone of decision-making. AI outputs should be verified and contextualized by trained professionals.
Regulation and Training: Industries should develop robust standards for AI use and ensure professionals are trained to understand both its potential and limitations.
By adopting these practices, you can leverage AI to improve efficiency while maintaining and enhancing your critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
@busmark_w_nika No ChatGPT at all!!! No way I give my data to them!!!
There are many alternatives, and private ;)
I think that it's all about finding balance. And instead of resisting AI, we need to be adapting, because let's face it, it's AI era and well it will be (mildly speaking) unwise not to use this technology. Me personally, I see it as an assistant that can help me work smarter, not harder. I use it for tons of things but mostly for making some processes at work automated, so that I have time of things that I actually love to do, on things that require some creativity, and things that are more important than for example... structuring large datasets.
@oksana_ch I suppose we have the best of both worlds. We know that "analogical" approach + that "ChatGPT" approach. But let's imagine kids. They will know only about that ChatGPT. If they will not be critically thinking, it will be like cheating during exams, just rewriting what colleague or classmate said (Chatgpt). Not very much thinking whether the statement is true or not.
@oksana_ch Yeah, I totally agree, resisting AI isn’t the move, adapting is. At this point, it’s like trying to ignore the internet in the early 2000s, you can, but why make life harder?
I like how you put it: AI as an assistant, not a replacement. The real challenge is making sure we’re still actively thinkingand not just becoming operators of AI tools.
@busmark_w_nika yeah, true. Well, I think that reading develops critical thinking and if we somehow teach the kids to love the books, to love to read, then there shouldn't be a problem with critical thinking.
@oksana_ch I would say that some camps for kids where they have to work in teams can also have an effect.
I mean… let’s be honest, AI is making us lazy. But maybe that’s not even the biggest issue. I notice it all the time, especially being younger, ChatGPT gets used for literally everything. Need a text? ChatGPT. Homework? ChatGPT. Even people brainstorming business ideas just throw a prompt in and call it research. It’s wild.
The real danger? AI makes us feel smarter than we actually are. When ChatGPT explains something, we nod like we understood it, but if someone asked us to explain it back, we’d sound like a glitchy chatbot ourselves.
That’s what makes me curious about the future. Are we just outsourcing thinking? Or will AI force us to focus on higher-level creativity and problem-solving instead?
I guess we’ll see. But yeah, have you ever thought you "learned" something from AI, only to realize later you had no idea how it actually worked? Because same. 😅
@hussein_r It is a paradox, ChatGPT is copying from knowledge we gave it and now, we are trying to reproduce what ChatGPT said. It is like one game we used to play "telephone". At the end you will receive totally wrong answer. Maybe you know that game. So this is it :D
@busmark_w_nika I know that game, and I have to admit I chuckled a bit while reading your comment, such a perfect comparison! 😂 It really does feel like a never-ending loop of slightly distorted information.
I dunno. My thinking is that we now operate more high level. While we can drill down in the nitty gritty 10x faster than before. And then zoom right back up to high level again. High level is nice IMO. You can do more. Do we want to go back to spending 2 weeks on the nitty gritty, learning useless things we will never do again? thats nostalgia. Nostalgia are for the romantics. 😈
@sentry_co We are so questionable, we are in the middle of the era, but what about those newcomers. It is a certain thing that many things will die and will be replaced with the different. Would be pretty interesting how our brain and perception will evolve. Now I have FOMO to see that biological change.
I dont think there is biological change at all. Has not been for 100s of thousands of years. Biology moves slow. As such we amp up with tech. We still sit in caves with candle light fires prefering the dark-mode. I think biologically we are at peak. tech however still has some road to go. We progress by building on top of what came before. If we reset everything today. No memory. We go back to the caves, and evolution takes 100s of thousands of years to get to this point again.
@sentry_co that's sure thing, but it contributes to it. maybe if we do not destroy each other until that, in a few thousands years we will be somehow different (physically, mentally etc.) :D
I feel like the way we teach our children will focus more on problem solving and create thinking, less about remembering a specific way of doing something. How we measure intelligence will evolve as we become used to using AI as a tool.
@kalim_nixon I am not so sure whether school institutions especially public schools have been working on any plan. But if they do, good luck because our attention and attention of other generations is like 1 second :D
@busmark_w_nika I agree, our attention spans are decreasing. Perhaps we need to move around from the obsessive need for scrolling.
@kalim_nixon I am too dystopian, so you probably know my answer :D
I think the most important thing is to use AI tools in a balanced way. More and more companies are asking every employee to use AI tools in their work to improve efficiency. Besides, the output quality of AI tools, like in marketing planning, can sometimes even surpass that of humans. However, when it comes to implementation, AI still cannot fully replace humans.
In my view, it’s better leverage AI tools for tasks like online research and investigation to gather inspiration, but the actual implementation should be done by us, without becoming overly reliant on them.
@focusaur I agree that it should be balanced and somehow "collaborate" with it. But the majority of people (e.g. this generation of kids) are not like that. They are relying on answers, not the way how they concluded to that answer. It doesn't require comprehending, just reading.
That’s true. On a societal level, most people tend to praise and promote AI, and as more and more people trust and use it, the convenience it brings can easy lead to dependency, causing them stop thinking. In fact, with the rapid development of AI, both in education and society, there should also be proper guidance and balanced reporting on AI, which might help alleviate some of these issues.
If for every problem you have you use AI to answer questions definitely.
But let's not forget, we have been using Google for at least a decade (at my age at least), which is a similar thing. You have been asking questions that you never went through the process to reason about yourself.
So we definitely have been getting dumber for a long time now. If AI escalates this, maybe, it should definitely be monitored in terms of how it is used. But i think for top level, repetitive tasks, it should be used, so u have capacity to do the creative ones.
AI is our full-time employ. Is just that the Big Tech is desperately trying to achieve the exact opposite.
Definitely recommend Technofeudalism from Yanis Varoufakis, or any articles of his around "cloud capital"
@cryptosymposium Oh no, another book recommendation. Please, stop it, because I will go bankrupt. The last couple of months just buying many books :D Just reading the into of the publication. Looks good.
@busmark_w_nika haha sorry I had to. recommending books to people is my "disease" . the majority does not read them tho........heart breaking sound in the background....
Yes, definitely. Despite its undeniable benefits for productivity, AI makes people lazy and less thoughtful. It’s especially concerning for the younger generation.
@mayaa17 Hope that we somehow sort it out and not will end up like the movie Idiocracy :D
To combat this feeling, I like to ask how it arrived at its solution(s) and to source articles for me to read deeper into it. I also don't use it to write, but rather when I need a devil's advocate or structural suggestion. So in a way, I'm not using it to outsource my thinking, but rather as a second perspective to help ensure I'm framing my outputs in a way that makes sense for more than just myself. For students and young people, building strong reading, writing, and critical thinking skills first is key, as their starting points will shape/influence how they use AI.
Separately, I believe that there is a lot of "braindead" work that people spend hours on, which we can and should outsource to AI so that people can do the jobs we are hired for and interested in. For instance, with organizing internal documents— a team might take a day to fix messy infrastructure (and then there's the maintenance of it afterwards) but an AI could streamline this admin instantly, enabling people to focus on the work we’re actually hired for.
So I see the benefit of having useful AI tools in our work-kits, but I also believe that users should be using the tools as supports and not as replacements for you (the intention, creativity, perspective, and life that you bring to the team/space you're in)!
@m1nn13 This is a good example. The thing is that we have quite a complex knowledge how we got things. Generations after us will only have the result. But yeah, maybe they will have more time to focus on more important problems.
@d_ferencha I would wish such a model. But I think it should be done at the moment because if AI is learning according to the outputs we gave to it, and if we are becoming dumber and will give it dumber conclusions, the quality of AI can be also wrong. I dunno. :D
Hmm... I have a different perspective on this.
When the internet first emerged, many believed it would provide all the information we needed, making thinking and studying unnecessary. However, reality proved otherwise—we still had to learn, and more importantly, develop critical thinking skills to filter and assess information.
The same applies to AI. Some assume AI will eliminate the need for human cognition, but AI still generates incorrect data. To harness its potential effectively, we must continue to think critically and refine our understanding
@kay_arkain IMO, with the internet it would be possible to learn many things but let's take that we do not use our potential at 100%. We waste it and so we cannot come up with better results.
Hmm pretty much relatable to me. I’ve been feeling the same way.
Lately, I realized that I was letting AI do all the heavy lifting, and it was kind of taking over my thought process. So, I switched things up. Now, before I use GPT or any other tool, I spend at least 15 minutes with pen and paper, just brainstorming and letting my brain do its thing. Then, I tap into the AI for a fresh burst of ideas, and I go back to pen and paper to refine and finalize everything.
For me, it’s all about keeping that balance, using AI as a tool without letting it steal all my creative energy.
How are you managing to stay in control of your thought process while using AI?
@whatshivamdo I usually use it only for checking the grammar, summarising the text or finding data. But I want to do my creative work on my own, because I like it. I want to use AI for chores I do not like.
AI is super useful, but we can’t just turn off our brains. It’s great for productivity, but when it comes to decisions or anything that needs due diligence, we still need to stay engaged. It’s a tool, not a replacement for thinking. Just use it wisely.
@dineshan_sithamparanathan Agree, I am trying to learn coding, it is good for explaining and also giving you the whole solution (and this part is not actually good because you only copy it)
If it's taking away experience, it's probably bad. I talk to my friends about using AI to code, and one of the biggest issues I see from it is overly relying on it and no longer gaining experience thinking through a problem.
I disagree with @gabe 's library metaphor -- when you're at a library you're still reading a book at the end of it, and reading a (good) book is having an experience. It's gaining knowledge because you spent time with something and let it change you in a way that you participated in. One of AI's big dangers here is that it seems to make you believe you participated when really it is guiding you, especially if it is the one providing follow-up questions.
I think AI definitely can make us stupider, as people will want to offload "critical" thinking and pretend they learned something because they read it. Having a back and forth with AI that you are leading may still be using your brain, but these AIs--depending on the alignment of their creators--may be influencing your process or guiding you more than you realize.
@gabe @benjamin_lampel AI is a double-edged sword. It can help in many ways but I think as a human kind we tend to slip and rely too much. And when we wake up, it can be late. (I am from the country where people tend to believe more conspiracies rather than science so you can imagine how easy they can be manipulated and totally be without critical thinking.) Then it is dangerous for the rest of society. And let's imagine using AI in a slightly "shady" way. It can affect people's knowledge, beliefs, decisions... Not good. :D I can see it now.
If someone is yelling and shouting at AI without taking the effort to make the prompt better, then yes, that person is becoming stupid.
Product Hunt
Maybe not dumb, but lazier but also more efficient?
I like what @sentry_co said - I do think we can now quickly execute tasks that would take time (TL;DR on documentation, get a rough draft of a plan, get foundational code for an app) but I do think that if used incorrectly, we'll come to expect AI to do the work for us and we'll hate when we have to do it ourselves.
Think Library without computers, you'd have to use a card catalog to search for the book or topic you're looking for.