Having a Big Head Will be a Compliment

There are two schools of thought regarding the change in size of the human brain:
1) Brains are getting smaller because they are exercised less; data and thinking have been uploaded to books, paper files, the internet, the cloud, etc.
2) Brains are getting bigger because of better pre-natal care, nutrition, and education.

(Beth Goody/WSJ)

Whichever theory best describes the past is unsettled, but the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution seems to make future brain shrinkage inevitable. [bold added]

At our [Stanford] lab, we’ve spent a decade treating patients, studying how technology shapes the human mind, and supporting the integration of mental-health and well-being principles into AI and social-media platforms. As generative AI enters workplaces and schools at unprecedented speed, we’re observing a troubling phenomenon: the quiet erosion of our cognitive capabilities.

The allure of the technology is powerful. As our colleague Darja Djordjevic, a psychiatrist at Harlem Hospital and Columbia University says, “Here is a machine that is always available, endlessly enthusiastic, and seemingly competent in every domain. That creates a powerful feedback loop. You skip the discomfort of starting from scratch and get rewarded in seconds.”

No wonder our brain, delighted to dodge difficulty, craves these shortcuts. Humans have always used technology for cognitive offloading—using external tools to reduce mental demands. We write notes to remember, use calculators for arithmetic, and rely on GPS for navigation.

Where previous technologies affected discrete skills, however, generative AI tools raise the stakes. These tools are so expansive in their applications, so autonomous in their execution, that when we activate them, our minds effectively power down.

Therein lies the risk. The very convenience that boosts short-term productivity may also be accelerating long-term cognitive atrophy, across more domains than any technology before it.

The authors offer a variety of remedies, ranging from trying to solve the problem before turning to AI, to an outright AI "fast." I don't hold out much hope that these solutions will make a dent in stemming the AI takeover of our cognitive functions.

In my working life I spent many nights and weekends on audits, business plans, tax returns, and merger deals. If I had an AI bot to help me out, I would have not hesitated to use it. Now that I'm retired (and much lazier) I would still use the tools that made me both efficient and effective.

I pity future generations. I have a bigger brain than they do.