Does using Chatgpt to write a text, is it like activating the “energy saving” mode of the brain? This is a bit what a study conducted by a MIT team suggests. For several months, students from the Boston region were invited to write short texts … with or without help. All, EEG helmet on the head, just to observe what is happening (or not) in their gray matter.
Brain nap
Three groups: a first without any help, a second with a search engine, and a third equipped with GPT-4O, the IA model of Openai. Result ? The more we lean on an external tool, the less the brain worked. And it is the “Chatgpt” group which wins the palm of brain laziness, with a drop in activity up to 55 % compared to those who managed alone.
The search engine is doing a little better (or a little less bad), but also shows a clear decline. Brain activity has been measured via a slightly barbaric tool called Dynamic Direct Transfer Function (DDTF), which analyzes how information circulates between the different areas of the brain. In essence: the more it moves, the more the brain gets involved.
And it’s not just a matter of brain waves. The researchers also tested memory and the feeling of appropriation of written texts. Verdict: Those who used Chatgpt remember it less well … and have the impression of having less “created” themselves. Worse still: when the AI is removed in a next session, their performance collapses.
Conversely, those who had started solo, then had access to Chatgpt afterwards, saw their brain activate more. As if the AI worked better when using it after heating the neurons yourself a little.
Conclusion of researchers? Let the AI do the job from the start is to take the risk of learning less well. Better to start thinking for yourself, even if it means calling Chatgpt in reinforcement afterwards.
This study has not yet been validated by the scientific community, therefore caution. But it raises a real subject, especially at a time when the students are more and more numerous to rely on AI to do their homework. The researcher Nataliya Kosmyna, who led the project, does not speak of “softened brain” or generation abruived by the AI. It prefers to alert on the need to supervise the use of these tools, in particular in the field of education.
Other research is already planned: the next will relate to how our brain reacts when you ask the AI to code for us. In the meantime, if you use Chatgpt to write your texts, keep at least a little space for your own gray matter, it can always be used!
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