We've invented and used various memory/thinking/cognitive assists throughout time, and, for us collectively at least, these seem to just expand our capabilities.
AI will surely cause problems, possibly profound ones that may make us question whether it's worth the cost... but this probably isn't one of them.
It’s very difficult for me to even navigate my city without GPS now, I suspect using AI does a similar atrophying of your brain matter. Does using an excavator cause your muscle tissue to atrophy compared to a shovel? Of course it does.
Similar to this: before cellphones stored all our contacts, we all used to remember several phone numbers for our main family members and friends. Sometimes even some places (like work or school). Now we don't bother and most of us only remember our own number.
I called my girlfriend of six months yesterday, and she didn't answer, so I waited through the automated message to leave a voice mail. It struck me that I had no idea what her phone number is, not even the exchange. It takes me a second to remember my own number.
Yes but is that genuine atrophy... or applying that part of your brain power to other things? Has anyone actually studied this? I sort of like that I can concentrate more on the podcast playing without worrying if I'm about to miss my left turn.
"Given that the sample was primarily undergraduate students, many participants were unreachable or had moved away from the city three years after initial testing, and therefore a small subset of 13 participants (4 women, 9 men; mean age: 28.46 ± 3.93 years old; Table 1) came back for a follow-up assessment"
It could work if the student is challenged and tested by the LLM itself and his performance overseen by a human evaluator. But I wouldn't know.
A learning scenario is very different from a work scenario or daily assistant scenario.
I think there are many ways in which LLMs can harm humans. Almost all of them are "use on others for psychological influence" ones. But hey, even that could be seen as training if you have the guts to handle the pressure.
We've invented and used various memory/thinking/cognitive assists throughout time, and, for us collectively at least, these seem to just expand our capabilities.
AI will surely cause problems, possibly profound ones that may make us question whether it's worth the cost... but this probably isn't one of them.