ChatGPT changes a person's ability to think - what the experiment showed

An international group of researchers found that even short-term use of ChatGPT can impair independent task performance. In an experiment involving 1,222 people, participants who used AI showed a decline in results after losing access to the chatbot, while those who worked without assistance maintained stability.

An international team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Oxford conducted an experiment with 1,222 participants. Participants were divided into groups: some solved math problems and performed text comprehension exercises with ChatGPT, while others worked independently. Initially, the AI group showed high accuracy, but after the twelfth task, when access to the chatbot was removed, they experienced a decrease in correct answers, an increase in skipped questions, and a rise in refusals to solve. The group that worked without AI maintained stable results. Lead researcher Brian Christian linked the effect to the disappearance of 'productive struggle'—the process of overcoming difficulties that leads to learning. Scientists warn that the effect could affect not only students but also professionals, and suggest using AI as a mentor rather than a provider of ready-made answers.