Generative AI has been seen as a boon for productivity, but it may not be making the workforce any smarter. In fact, enterprises may want to start thinking about cognitive debt from AI usage and a thin bench of critical thinkers.
A study (abstract) from a team at MIT looked at 54 participants using OpenAI's ChatGPT for essays. The participants were divided into brain-only users, search engine users and large language model (LLM) users. The study then used electroencephalography (EEG) to assess cognitive load during essay writing and scored the essays.
The punchline:
"Self-reported ownership of essays was the lowest in the LLM group and the highest in the Brain-only group. LLM users also struggled to accurately quote their own work. While LLMs offer immediate convenience, our findings highlight potential cognitive costs. Over four months, LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels. These results raise concerns about the long-term educational implications of LLM reliance and underscore the need for deeper inquiry into AI's role in learning."
Apply this to the workforce and there are multiple threads to ponder:
- This study was focused on students and those folks will become your managers and executives in the future. If you hollow out critical thinking with AI then you'll have a bunch of know-nothings in the future. You may be trading productivity today for dumbasses in the future.
- Executives are telling employees to get on the AI bandwagon and leverage new ways to work. What happens if you introduce cognitive debt to employees with strong critical thinking and institutional knowledge.
- Generative AI (and the AI agents that will follow) is going to hollow out the bench of employees. It's already a tough hiring season for university graduates as AI eliminates entry level jobs. How will those employees develop in the future?
- Tests used for hiring should be AI free given the ease of spinning up minimal viable products, essays and code.
- If you're a worker, know how to leverage AI but don't lean on it too much. Using tools is a balancing act. Think about GPS, which has led to a generation (maybe two generations) that can't read a map. Reading a map old school is still a good brain workout. You may have to go out of your way to exercise your brain just like you do for muscles when you go to a gym.
- Keep context in mind. AI is no different than smartphones or any other technology. You'll have folks on one side saying the end of society is here. And you'll have optimists telling you a new technology will solve all of your problems. The truth is in the middle.
