Using ChatGPT to write essays could lead to decline in critical thinking—study
A new study suggested that the usage of large language models, the artificial intelligence tool utilized by platforms like OpenAI's ChatGPT, could lead to a decline in critical thinking.
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in their study titled "Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task," divided 54 subjects aged 18 to 39 into three groups. They were asked to write scholastic assessment test essays using ChatGPT, Google's search engine, and nothing at all, over the course of four months.
Researchers used an electroencephalogram or EEG, which measures the brain's electrical activity, to assess cognitive load during essay writing. They also used natural language processing or NLP analysis, which uses algorithms to understand and generate human language by computers, to check the essays, as well as scored essays with the help of human teachers and an AI judge.
Researchers instructed subjects to write essays about topics like loyalty, happiness, choices, forethought, philanthropy, art, courage, perfection, and enthusiasm in under 20 minutes each.
They found that ChatGPT users “consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.” In succeeding essays, the users opted for copying and pasting content "rather than incorporating their own original thoughts and editing those with their own perspectives and their own experiences."
The ChatGPT-generated essays lacked originality or critical depth, according to researchers, with the human teachers perceiving the essays as "soulless" and lacking "personal nuances."
"While the essays sounded academic and often developed a topic more in-depth than others, we valued individuality and creativity over objective 'perfection,'" the teachers said in the study.
Google users, meanwhile, showed moderate engagement, as they searched for facts and verified them via web sources instead of remembering them and internally cross-referencing knowledge. Nevertheless, they expressed full satisfaction and showed active brain function, with one participant even saying, "I was happy with the essay because it aligned well with what I wanted to express."
Those who relied on their brains only during essay writing demonstrated a "more extensive and stronger connectivity network," and was "especially notable in the lower-frequency bands (delta and theta), which are commonly associated with internalized cognitive processes such as episodic memory retrieval, conceptual integration, and internally focused attention." Without assistance from ChatGPT and Google, they "engaged memory and planning networks intensely, aligning with the need to recall information and creatively generate content."
After writing their essays, the subjects were also asked to rewrite one of their works, but with a twist. The ChatGPT users had to do away with it, while the brain-only participants were given the option to use ChatGPT.
The ChatGPT users struggled to remember their essays as opposed to the brain-only participants.
The study hasn't been peer reviewed yet, and the sample size is relatively small.
But its main researcher, Nataliya Kosmyna, told TIME Magazine that it's important to release the findings as soon as possible.
“What really motivated me to put it out now before waiting for a full peer review is that I am afraid in [six to eight] months, there will be some policymaker who decides, ‘let’s do GPT kindergarten.’ I think that would be absolutely bad and detrimental,” Kosmyna is quoted as saying. “Developing brains are at the highest risk.”
Kosmyna said education about the use of AI tools like ChatGPT is "absolutely critical," adding that an "active legislation in sync" is needed.
ChatGPT was developed by OpenAI, a San Francisco-based research and development company. It has taken the world by storm with its ability to generate finely crafted texts like essays or poems in just seconds.
AI platforms like ChatGPT have divided users. On one hand, it's seen to enhance learning if used properly and on the other hand, it's seen as a concern, especially when students depend solely on it in doing schoolwork.
