ChatGPT is dulling our critical minds. Why does no one seem to care?
Every week, PhilSTAR L!fe explores issues and topics from the perspectives of different age groups, encouraging healthy but meaningful conversations on why they matter. This is Generations by our Gen Z columnist Angel Martinez.
The results are in.
A new study from researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab found that artificial intelligence could erode our critical thinking skills. Subjects who were tasked to use OpenAI’s ChatGPT to produce a series of SAT essays had the “lowest brain engagement,” “[underperforming] at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels,” and trading in cognitive function for the copy-paste tool.
At the risk of showing signs of aging, my initial reaction was a resounding “I told you so!”
I come from one of the last batches that wrote their academic papers the old-fashioned way: by going on Google till three in the morning and hoping for the best. Soon, my pride turned into panic, and that panic morphed into fear. More surprisingly, nobody seems to care outside of my echo chamber; in fact, there’s no more shame.
Not so long ago, we used to hide our workarounds, afraid we’d get sanctioned by authorities. Recently, a graduate paraded the ChatGPT windows he used to finish his final projects, right before the ceremony. Maybe it’s because AI has snaked its way into every crevice of everyday life—even the parts we deem most private.
Generative AI tools only entered the mainstream consciousness in the post-pandemic era. But now, it’s commonplace for users to disclose their deepest, darkest secrets to the software, and outsource messages as personal as opening prayers. We can’t use any social media platform without a generative AI window summarizing whatever it thinks we’re looking for, often to disastrous results. (It’s no wonder our government officials are also easily fooled.)
Wendy, a freshman finance major, told New York Magazine in a recent cover story: “I use AI a lot. Like, every day. And I do believe it could take away that critical thinking part. But it’s just—now that we rely on it, we can’t really imagine living without it.”
It’s alarming. But thankfully, James Dominic Flores, MA faculty at Far Eastern University’s department of psychology, told PhilSTAR L!fe that it is also untrue.
“It’s natural for people to gravitate towards anything that makes their life easier and quicker, but convenience is not a necessity. A lot of people can function properly beyond the use of ChatGPT and other similar tools,” he said.
Yet, our current conditions prioritize speed and efficiency, rather than depth and curiosity. In the face of consecutive deadlines or tight competition, we have no choice but to work smarter, not harder.
“Certain students can’t help but put grades and awards before actual learning when they’re faced with family pressures, economic struggles, and the need for external validation,” Flores acknowledged.
Think about it: When someone with the answers is dangling them right before your eyes, would you take them and get an A, or opt for the long way out of love for learning, only to score a B? The answer may be obvious, but it means that today’s youth coast through readings and submit requirements without retaining much, if anything.
While I understand where they’re coming from, this can’t be the status quo. Sure, ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, and all their other friends aren’t going anywhere. But I will forever be an advocate for thinking, for letting my mind wander with as little intervention as possible. I enjoy breaking a problem down into smaller parts, holding each fragment up to the light, and figuring out the many ways they can fit together. The experience lends me a new perspective and gives me confidence that I can do hard things.
And if that doesn’t do anything for you, remember this: Your brain is a muscle that will atrophy with disuse. Based on the findings of the MIT experiment, the ChatGPT group remembered little of their own essays. The “weaker alpha and theta brain waves” in their scans “likely reflected a bypassing of deep memory processes.”
Over time, as young people continue to depend on this platform, they could lose the ability to access information, remember facts, and be mentally resilient.
Thankfully, analog acts of resistance do exist. Before asking AI for assistance, challenge yourself to come up with an answer first. Sometimes, I’ll catch myself reaching for my phone when I hear a vaguely familiar song in public or I can’t think of a specific word, then immediately put it down so I can guess it myself. I keep a handy-dandy notebook with me, as well, to jot down observations and snippets of conversations. These tangents form connections that lead to stories, whether on paper or in person.
Institutions also play a role in regulating AI use, instead of implementing a counterproductive total ban. “There has to be a middle ground of onsite handwritten assessments and online assignments, despite the risk of encountering AI usage,” Flores said. “I believe proper AI usage and ethical training for the use of AI should be taught for both students and teachers as well. We cannot simply demonize AI but acknowledge its nature as a tool and how its impact is dependent on the motives and skills of the person using it.”
Maybe there’s some merit in restructuring our academic environment by decentering perfection. I know humans are naturally inquisitive beings and will go down rabbit holes, if given the luxury of time. But it seems we only ever go to school to pass and get our degree, not to learn. You can preach about the value of learning all you want, but this will fall on deaf ears if students are spread too thinly to care.
Envisioning these futures is exactly how we strive towards them. Sadly, it’s what AI wants to take away from us. Our ability to dream, to debate, to collaborate, and articulate: these are what make us us, yet these are what we outsource to machines.
I can only hope we don’t reach the point where we’ve taken all these shortcuts and realize that we’ve sped through what makes life worth living.
Generations by Angel Martinez appears weekly at PhilSTAR L!fe.
