A few weeks ago, Nobel Prize winner Demis Hassabis predict This artificial intelligence (AI) will match human intelligence within 5-10 years. This expectation, shared by other AI analysts, is based on exponential growth in AI technology. However, it neglects an important factor. While people think of computers, they get more stupid.
The situation is similar to athletes who lose muscle tissue by not practicing. The introduction of AI into staff illuminates people from different intellectual tasks. The resulting “intellectual holiday mode” will probably cause a decrease in the cognitive capacities of humans. As a result, the intersection between human intelligence and AI can arrive faster than expected, not only because AI skills are improving rapidly, but also because people are becoming more stupid. The two trends have been correlated, because better AI agents would reduce the intellectual burden for people.
A paper Published in the Journal Intelligence, two years ago, American IQs are falling for the first time in recent history. An analysis of 394,378 scores on intelligence tests taken between 2006 and 2018 showed that IQs had fallen into the categories of logic and vocabulary, calculation and mathematics, and visual problem solving and analogies. This turns the so -called OM Flynn -effectThat previously described a steady increase in IQ by about three IQ points per decade since 1932. The decrease is steepest in the age group of 18 to 22, which is supposed to have better IQ scores than older people. Divorce that, a survey from 2023 unveiled That 34% of American adults scored at the lowest levels of math skills, without the ability to work with figures.
Another recent study reported A trend that started around the middle of the 2010, with more people find it difficult to concentrate, reason and problem solution. Young adults show a reduced attention span and weakening critical thinking skills based on facts concerning 18-year-old Americans and facts On 15-year-olds around the world. Extensive exposure to digital screens was demonstrated To cause a decrease in verbal skills of children and reduce The ability of adults of college-age to concentrate information and process information.
A psychological study revealed that people could retain and process data considerably if their smartphones were in another room. The elimination of their phone alone made no difference, because people still demonstrated a decrease in cognitive skills when their smartphone stood next to them.
Human intelligence flourishes in response to challenges. With fewer problems to solve and more sources of superficial commitments in the era of social media and AI, the need for deep thinking and rigorous research is decreasing.
Of course there will always be statistical bijters at the high tail of the probability distribution, where people are driven to learn, analyze and innovate without the help of AI agents.
In view of these trends, one can optimistically wonder whether the exponential rise of AI will compensate for the alarming decline of the cognitive skills of human cognitive skills, so that the net effect will still be positive. I don’t think so.
The prosperity of democratic countries is critical of the cognitive skills of their citizens and less on the instruments they use. This is because people control the physical world in ways that cannot be replaced by AI systems. We need politicians to make good judgments, juries to achieve reasonable statements, technologists to make good investments and scientists to discover new knowledge. But above all we need the dedication of people for interactions with other people and for the challenge to find the truth from primary sources of evidence and knowledge. Consuming knowledge processed by AI is the same as a party food. It can feel good at the moment, but in the long term it is bad for our health.
Here it is to be hoped that we can revise our education system to redesign a rising Flynn curve of human IQ scores in the 21st century. Otherwise we may not be able to get the steering wheel when our self -driven cars will ride us from the cliff.
