AI Is Accelerating Cognitive Inequality

You may have heard of the recent (still not yet peer-reviewed) study at MIT that showed that students using Large Language Models (LLMs, such as ChatGPT) to perform writing tasks demonstrated reduced brain activity and showed little retention of the text that was created as a result. This was discovered by using an electroencephalogram (EEG) scan as well as by polling the test subjects afterward. The EEG showed less activity and connectivity in the brain, and even signs of cognitive passivity—they were happy to offload the heavy thinking work to the AI.