A lot of folks use AI and I noticed they have less and less of a clue how to do things on their own. A lot of them are just whining a lot and need constant handholding. This triggered a constant staff turnover, the few people who still have a brain keep leaving, since they are the ones who are stuck with all the work.
It’s like watching a fatal crash in slow motion. Scary!
I was wondering about that too. The calculator certainly saves time, but using AI seems like a whole different proposition. Calculation (just doing math), seems repetitive, while writing involves active engagement and deeper thought, finding new connections, conceptualizing, etc.
OTOH, those who used the programmable ones as a bridge to writing software for calculating results for large datasets were gaining speed as well as programming insight. Power tools in the wrong hands have such consequences...
Much like will happen in auto-driven vehicles, but what's the goal? ttyl
Because I have always been aware of this reality, I always calculate in my head, then verify occasionally with a calculator. 99% of the time, I was right in my mental calculation. Don't use a calculator as a crutch, instead, use it to verify when you are working on something critical that must be right the first time. In the Tool & Die, Mold Making and high volume production Machining, we use math daily so it is a good idea to verify what we calculate mentally. I taught my children at a young age to calculate cubes and cube roots rather than simple math to make the simple math that much easier.
I wish researchers added one more experiment: using materials written for you by a friend. My bet is the result of this experiment would be no different from use of the LLMs.
The results disclosed in the article did not surprise and should have been expected. They are similar to the affect of non-exercising on human muscles and skeleton.
I gave this as an answer, but wanted it to stand alone - AI is just a bunch of code with a huge working storage that is curated to produce desired results.
IMO, using "AI" (it is NOT intelligence, it is just a program) means that folks have completely limited their mental endeavors to asking questions and accepting the answers as must be true. When one can spot errors by the carload in the AI-generated returns on any Google search. With internet and social media use, there is at least a minimal bit of thought - what do I look for, where do I find like-minded people, do I agree with something or not, and why, and how do I answer. Using "AI" is just sitting and accepting pablum, no matter how clever the question is imagined to be. It is useful for some onerous tasks, sure. But again, how many people will know how to even create a simple spreadsheet in ten years. The mental gymnastics needed to do that, IMO, will have been stunted. When I was programming, back in the Olden Days, we started to get college-trained "programmers" who we were told would change everything, would show us how it is done. Instead, we got a lot of folks who literally could not write a program if a similar program was not in the answers section of their college textbooks.
Also, "AI" does not know right or wrong, or good or bad - unless someone has written those "values" into the code, with their own agenda.
I refer to AI as Actual Intelligence. Without actual intelligence, a person's brain turns to mush. Dial phone numbers from memory instead of looking up numbers from a list in your phone as one simple way to exercise memory. Critical thinking requires actual intelligence. If one always turns to anything artificial, they promote their own long term ignorance.
I haven’t asked artificial idiocy anything and have no plans to. People have been outsourcing their own critical thinking to “experts” for generations now. This is just the latest iteration of the process. Zbigniew Brzezniski discussed this as an intentional process.
“What a big brain you have grandma!” “The better to control you with my dear.”
I hate that there is such a horrible down side. We must realize that reality however. Going back over the decades, when we all had landlines......We all knew countless phone numbers of family, friends, neighbors etc. We memorized them. That's no longer the case. If you lose your cell phone however, you're basically screwed as you likely don't know the phone numbers of the majority of your critical people. I know my husband's and daughter's phone numbers - no others. Same with mapquest. I used to drive to a new location and learn how to get there quickly. With mapquest, I program it in and it seems to take forever to learn how to get back there without assistance.
Thank you for sharing this study. I am not surprised by the results at all. That is why I will not use AI or robotics ever. I actually think based upon my limited use AI is garbage. Also, as a 73 year old, I must keep my brain sharp.
Back in 2020 or so, I wrote a paper on the impact of smartphones on society. One of the points that struck me was how the excessive GPS use can potentially have a negative effect (atrophy) on the hippocampus, because it can cause a decline in spatial memory(internal navigation system). I can imagine how AI will dumb us down at an even more accelerated rate. I'll see if I can find the reference I used.
I must say that memory of numbers is much different that the ability to visualize maps in one's mind. I personally look at travel from a bird's eye view in my mind. From the age of 16, I have had a good sense of direction so I always looked at maps and made mental notes to myself that allowed me to put the map away and go. I always reached my destination. I do agree that both cellphone number lists add convenience although they reduce the need to remember numbers we use daily promoting efficency. At the same time, I believe that using Google Maps or similar programs reduce a person's ability to thing in 3D because they are always awaiting prompts instead of knowing where to go instinctively. I can easily get across country without anything but a US map that I look at before leaving the house then I don't look again until I reach the state that I'm traveling to to look at the local map. If a person knows their directions and studies maps, it increases their own confidence and strengthens their mind's eye.
Sounds like the same phenomenon we observed during the vaccine rollout when 80+ percent of the population outsourced the most basic functions of observation and dot-connecting to their trusted "experts".
I can see the mental decline at work.
A lot of folks use AI and I noticed they have less and less of a clue how to do things on their own. A lot of them are just whining a lot and need constant handholding. This triggered a constant staff turnover, the few people who still have a brain keep leaving, since they are the ones who are stuck with all the work.
It’s like watching a fatal crash in slow motion. Scary!
Look what the hand held calculator did for math skills using your brain.
I was wondering about that too. The calculator certainly saves time, but using AI seems like a whole different proposition. Calculation (just doing math), seems repetitive, while writing involves active engagement and deeper thought, finding new connections, conceptualizing, etc.
OTOH, those who used the programmable ones as a bridge to writing software for calculating results for large datasets were gaining speed as well as programming insight. Power tools in the wrong hands have such consequences...
Much like will happen in auto-driven vehicles, but what's the goal? ttyl
Because I have always been aware of this reality, I always calculate in my head, then verify occasionally with a calculator. 99% of the time, I was right in my mental calculation. Don't use a calculator as a crutch, instead, use it to verify when you are working on something critical that must be right the first time. In the Tool & Die, Mold Making and high volume production Machining, we use math daily so it is a good idea to verify what we calculate mentally. I taught my children at a young age to calculate cubes and cube roots rather than simple math to make the simple math that much easier.
Well said!
This seemed an obvious outcome to me. Seems we are hell-bent on destroying ourselves.
Barbara Marx Hubbard: Godmother of Transhumanism and Synthetic Spirituality
https://unlimitedhangout.com/2022/05/investigative-reports/barbara-marx-hubbard-godmother-of-transhumanism-and-synthetic-spirituality/
I wish researchers added one more experiment: using materials written for you by a friend. My bet is the result of this experiment would be no different from use of the LLMs.
The results disclosed in the article did not surprise and should have been expected. They are similar to the affect of non-exercising on human muscles and skeleton.
I don’t like AI …. At All
Good to see this report, but unfortunately, this doesn't surprise me in the least.
FYI, an aptly titled book:
THE MYTHIC AIM OF AI: MAIMING THE MIND
by James Tunney
https://www.jamestunney.com/books?pgid=lafn0qlu-d728767d-1223-4d5e-b54e-b25b31b080df
Excellent resource, Reader!
Thank you very much for sharing.
Probably same reason why it’s hard to do arithmetic in my head after using calculators so much.
The world needs more "scratch paper pretzel logic".
than complexing or even conflicting battery powered pocket assistants.
I gave this as an answer, but wanted it to stand alone - AI is just a bunch of code with a huge working storage that is curated to produce desired results.
IMO, using "AI" (it is NOT intelligence, it is just a program) means that folks have completely limited their mental endeavors to asking questions and accepting the answers as must be true. When one can spot errors by the carload in the AI-generated returns on any Google search. With internet and social media use, there is at least a minimal bit of thought - what do I look for, where do I find like-minded people, do I agree with something or not, and why, and how do I answer. Using "AI" is just sitting and accepting pablum, no matter how clever the question is imagined to be. It is useful for some onerous tasks, sure. But again, how many people will know how to even create a simple spreadsheet in ten years. The mental gymnastics needed to do that, IMO, will have been stunted. When I was programming, back in the Olden Days, we started to get college-trained "programmers" who we were told would change everything, would show us how it is done. Instead, we got a lot of folks who literally could not write a program if a similar program was not in the answers section of their college textbooks.
Also, "AI" does not know right or wrong, or good or bad - unless someone has written those "values" into the code, with their own agenda.
We need more DI (divine intelligence) and less AI if we are going to continue as a species.
I refer to AI as Actual Intelligence. Without actual intelligence, a person's brain turns to mush. Dial phone numbers from memory instead of looking up numbers from a list in your phone as one simple way to exercise memory. Critical thinking requires actual intelligence. If one always turns to anything artificial, they promote their own long term ignorance.
Perhaps instead of asking a digital DATA center host in the digital clouds about things.
Maybe just ask DaDa? Hahaha. He may surprise you.
I haven’t asked artificial idiocy anything and have no plans to. People have been outsourcing their own critical thinking to “experts” for generations now. This is just the latest iteration of the process. Zbigniew Brzezniski discussed this as an intentional process.
“What a big brain you have grandma!” “The better to control you with my dear.”
I hate that there is such a horrible down side. We must realize that reality however. Going back over the decades, when we all had landlines......We all knew countless phone numbers of family, friends, neighbors etc. We memorized them. That's no longer the case. If you lose your cell phone however, you're basically screwed as you likely don't know the phone numbers of the majority of your critical people. I know my husband's and daughter's phone numbers - no others. Same with mapquest. I used to drive to a new location and learn how to get there quickly. With mapquest, I program it in and it seems to take forever to learn how to get back there without assistance.
We also had the White pages and the Yellow pages to look up unfamiliar numbers in the 1970s...
Well, duh...
If anyone else ever used Cliff Notes to pass an exam, how much of that book you didn't really read do you remember?
Thank you for sharing this study. I am not surprised by the results at all. That is why I will not use AI or robotics ever. I actually think based upon my limited use AI is garbage. Also, as a 73 year old, I must keep my brain sharp.
Idiocracy here we come!
Back in 2020 or so, I wrote a paper on the impact of smartphones on society. One of the points that struck me was how the excessive GPS use can potentially have a negative effect (atrophy) on the hippocampus, because it can cause a decline in spatial memory(internal navigation system). I can imagine how AI will dumb us down at an even more accelerated rate. I'll see if I can find the reference I used.
I must say that memory of numbers is much different that the ability to visualize maps in one's mind. I personally look at travel from a bird's eye view in my mind. From the age of 16, I have had a good sense of direction so I always looked at maps and made mental notes to myself that allowed me to put the map away and go. I always reached my destination. I do agree that both cellphone number lists add convenience although they reduce the need to remember numbers we use daily promoting efficency. At the same time, I believe that using Google Maps or similar programs reduce a person's ability to thing in 3D because they are always awaiting prompts instead of knowing where to go instinctively. I can easily get across country without anything but a US map that I look at before leaving the house then I don't look again until I reach the state that I'm traveling to to look at the local map. If a person knows their directions and studies maps, it increases their own confidence and strengthens their mind's eye.
https://rdcu.be/esutl
https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00005.2017
We Need to Have a Serious Conversation Debate About This Issue
Humans Worldwide
Can we have a Human Party instead of the 2 party system?
Vote Human
Join the Party.
Yes yes yes
WE are Human Beings with a Soul
Sounds like the same phenomenon we observed during the vaccine rollout when 80+ percent of the population outsourced the most basic functions of observation and dot-connecting to their trusted "experts".
TRUTH 🎯