AI Eases Our Mental Load at the Expense of Critical Thinking



A new study of students at a German university has found that employing ChatGPT in the search for information makes the work easier and reduces mental load, but it comes at the expense of quality arguments, grades, and critical thinking. Ultimately, using it created superficial assignment results.

The study was established specifically to measure both the cognitive load of students, and the quality and diversity of their arguments. It split students into two groups: those who used AI, and those who used traditional search methods, and tasked them with researching information about the safety of sun cream for their fictional friend “Paul.” Students were asked to draw conclusions and give advice to Paul, who had concerns over the safety of some ingredients.

The study found that:

  • Students using AI (large language models – LLM) had a lower cognitive load and less stress
  • There was no significant difference between the diversity of their arguments, suggesting that AI does not specifically lead to homogenous conclusions
  • Students that use AI have weaker reasoning in their arguments, likely because of lower engagement with the content and significantly reduced critical thinking.
SvetaZi, Getty Images via Canva

Source: SvetaZi, Getty Images via Canva

The ultimate conclusion was that use of AI can help improve student experience because it provides direct answers rather than needing a student to draw their own conclusions, but it currently comes at the cost of deep engagement and high-quality learning, with recommendation that the study be extended beyond the original pool of 91 students. What’s more, the study did not provide scope for evaluating the quality of their LLM queries, which could – in other studies – lead to misleading or misinformed answers.

The study highlights one of the key concerns over AI, in that individuals that default to using it may lose skills that are essential in recognising how accurate information is and whether the information could be being used to intentionally mislead (disinformation). Otherwise known as critical thinking skills, the pursuit of knowledge and accuracy is essential in navigating the world of ever-increasing data points, and the flood of information we are receiving from real-world encounters, social media feeds, news engines, magazines, broadcast, and other forms of digital media.

AI offers a service of immediacy while aggregating multiple sources, but often loses or eliminates the nuance of that information and the opportunity for depth of learning. This is particularly important as highlighted by Rainie and colleagues, 2019, given that a large majority of participants from an American study (81 percent) report they rely on their own web research over friends and family (43 percent) or professional experts (31 percent) when gathering information before making an important decision.

“While LLMs like ChatGPT offer an efficient way to reduce intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load, they may not always facilitate the deep learning necessary for complex decision-making tasks. Traditional search engines, by necessitating more active engagement, may promote a higher quality of learning, underscoring the need for educational practices that encourage critical engagement with diverse information sources,” study authors concluded.

Pixabay via Canva

Source: Pixabay via Canva

This study is particularly interesting when viewed in cross-section with another study published by APA PsycNet, which meta analysed correlation between exertion of mental effort and feelings of aversion. Does mental challenge diminish engagement? The study drew together data from 170 other studies, and a combined 4,670 test subjects from a range of population demographics. All the studies used the NASA Task Load Index to examine participants’ experiences of effort and negative affect. As expected, the study found a strong positive relationship between mental effort and negative effect, spanning all demographics, task types, and continents. This supports theories that effort is seen as a cost and therefore that more mental effort comes with more cost.

We know that the practice of critical thinking is an essential one in mentally inoculating us to the effects of misinformation and disinformation, but it is also a skill that takes continuous practice, significant effort, and has an ongoing effect on mental loads. It is not a stretch therefore to assume that a significant contributing factor to why critical thinking rates are so low, is that it requires a lot of mental effort, and therefore we find it boring, unpleasant, or a task to be avoided.

Critical thinking is the simplest approach to tackling fake news, and fake news is so prevalent specifically because of the lack of critical thinking. What’s more, the consequences of fake news are more and more dangerous, from manipulated voting to misleading health information, hate crimes to political extremism, all directly being fuelled by shares on social media, and the growing presence of digital content.

Fake news is so dangerous that the World Economic Forum has listed misinformation/disinformation as the most severe global threat to the next two years, and the fifth most severe for the next decade, behind only climate- and geo-political threats. The Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) has highlighted that 50 percent of information on the internet is not true or verified, which according to the Pew Research Centre Study is because of a habit of “othering” responsibility to social media platforms or new outlets, rather than taking responsibility ourselves.

What is very clear is that critical thinking is an essential skill, and we need to continue practising it regardless of cognitive fatigue or feelings of discomfort. It is the best and arguably only defence we have against fake news and we should therefore be cautious when employing AI queries for tasks that require more than surface-deep research.

Science Photo Library via Canva

Source: Science Photo Library via Canva


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