The study suggests that relying on artificial intelligence to solve problems makes us more likely to struggle and give up

Use Generative artificial intelligence A few minutes to solve a complex math problem or draft an email can be a quick and easy way to get the job done. But your critical thinking, creativity and reasoning skills remain unused if AI is doing all the hard work for you. This may have a bigger impact than you think.

A Recent preprint study Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Oxford, MIT, and the University of California, Los Angeles, found that participants who relied on AI to practice doing a task for just 10 minutes struggled to do the task without it, compared to those who never used AI in the first place.

The researchers said Chatbots powered by artificial intelligence It can help with “thought-intensive tasks” such as study and BrainstormingBut relying on robots for these tasks may hinder our ability to do these tasks on our own. There is a big difference between having Artificial intelligence tools Solve problems for you and use them for hints and clarifications – or not at all.

The study raises ongoing concerns about how the use of artificial intelligence will affect our ability to do the same tasks without the help of a machine. It’s one thing to have a tool like ChatGPT or Claude Providing some guidance or answering some questions that direct us towards the solution, but the other thing is to make it do our tasks wholesale.

Use Artificial intelligence to complete schoolwork Before a deadline is not the same as letting her help you manage your time. Overuse of artificial intelligence, especially in… Workplaces and SchoolsIt can make us, as humans, worse at doing things we should be able to do on our own.

Solve problems with and without artificial intelligence

the He studies It consists of 1,200 American participants on the research platform Prolific And three experiments. The tests asked participants to solve fraction problems and answer SAT-style reading comprehension questions. Some people were given Artificial intelligence assistant For help, they were able to use it however they wanted, but it was taken from them after 10 minutes. The study found that participants who used AI to get help were more likely to give up on problems and performed worse than participants who did not have it.

The negative effects of using artificial intelligence were observed only among those who relied on it to solve problems, and not among those who did not use it during the study. There were similar results in Massachusetts Institute of Technology study Last year, which focused on using artificial intelligence to write articles.

Grace Liu, Ph.D. Only short-term effects were measured, and we don’t yet have a complete picture of the long-term effects, a Carnegie Mellon University researcher and one of the study’s authors told CNET in an email. “How significant this effect is on a large scale and in the long term needs further research,” Liu said. Although AI can be used differently across use cases, the study does not evaluate how AI tools are used.

The researchers also found that when participants who used AI were unable to use it, they did not feel confident in their ability to solve problems.

“People not only become worse at tasks, but they also stop trying,” the researchers wrote. “If these effects accumulate over months and years of AI use, we may end up creating a generation of learners who have lost the ability to struggle productively without technological support.”

Is artificial intelligence much different from a calculator?

The study makes me wonder if using AI is similar to other problem-solving methods or shortcuts, such as using a calculator to solve a math problem. One difference is that generative AI can be used for almost anything, such as personal decisions, editing, and research with follow-up questions.

“The two phenomena certainly share similarities because they allow people to outsource cognitive tasks,” Liu said. “We believe it is particularly important to study AI cognitive crowdsourcing because AI can be used ubiquitously across many inference tasks, whereas previous tools are task-specific.”

Should you let AI do your work for you?

The researchers said the findings raise questions about the effects of our persistence and reasoning when using artificial intelligence on a daily basis.

“We caution that if these effects accumulate with continued use of AI, current AI systems – optimized only for short-term assistance – risk eroding the very human capabilities they are meant to support,” the researchers added.

Liu recommends being careful when using AI tools.

“Our findings suggest that we should be more intentional about how and when we use and deploy AI assistance — especially in learning contexts,” she said. “This is not a reason to avoid AI, but it is a reason to design and use these tools carefully.”