"Cognitive surrender" leads AI users to abandon logical thinking, research finds(arstechnica.com)
54 pointsby Bender5 hours ago10 comments
  • andyfilms14 hours ago
    I work in a creative field, and we've started to get a lot of clients using AI to generate initial concepts for us to build upon. The problem is, they're not actually thinking about these concepts, they're just generating until they see something they like.

    Then, we have meetings where we will ask a basic but specific question about what they want us to make, and we're just met with blank stares. They have no answers, because they've never actually thought about it.

    And then everyone else needs to do the thinking for them.

    • neonstatic2 hours ago
      This reminds me of what's happened back in the early days of Google Translate. Lots of folks would bring very low quality automatic translations "for correction" only. For many it was a way to get a lower price since in their minds it was cheaper to correct something that is "largely done" rather than do the work from scratch. Oh how wrong they were, haha.
    • whattheheckheck21 minutes ago
      They're staring at you because you they're paying you to figure it out and youre asking them again
      • yunnpp4 minutes ago
        Precisely. I'm not an artist but have worked with some, and I do so with the basic assumption that the artist knows their shit and knows better than me. This client basically made a draft (or think they did) and asked you to fill the gaps, then went blank wondering how is it you're such a noob you can't even do your job. I'd honestly tell them to piss off and find better people to work with/for.
  • ktimespi2 hours ago
    Yeah, realized this the first time I used an LLM to code. I've not used them since. No matter how good it gets, it's dangerous to lose touch of my own intelligence.
    • neonstatic2 hours ago
      I concur. I do use it a fair bit for coding and there is a temptation to have it do as much of it as possible, but there is a very clear line between what I wrote and what "it" wrote. The former I am happy to read, improve, understand. The latter, I only skim over, don't want to touch myself, and get very frustrated when it doesn't "just work".
  • UltraSane2 hours ago
    This is just being lazy. I like to use Claude and Gemini to have debates and test ideas. If you do it right you can learn new things with every chat.
  • Rygian5 hours ago
    The very next entry on the homepage, just below this one: "The danger of military AI isn't killer robots; it's worse human judgement"

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47632016

  • ricktdotorg3 hours ago
    this is exactly the same as people who drive their car into a river because google maps told them to.
    • trehalose2 hours ago
      If you were driving on an unmarked, unbarricaded bridge that Google Maps directed you over in a dark and rainy night, are you 100% certain you'd be driving slowly, undistracted, and checking to make sure the bridge isn't collapsed?
  • add-sub-mul-div4 hours ago
    Funny, the author of this piece was one of the two on the byline of the Ars article with the AI-fabricated quotes.

    The cognitive surrender is the most predictable outcome. Many here will claim they'll rise above the path of least resistance and use AI responsibly, and even if that is true for many here, think about the most typical worker. Those who only want to go home at 5 after putting the least amount of effort into their job. Our society is about to be rewritten by them.

  • TacticalCoder4 hours ago
    Don't know about that research but I certainly have read many HN comments made by those who drank the AI kool-aid (and I write this as someone using Claude Code CLI daily) where any semblance of logical thinking was gone.
  • david_shi5 hours ago
    How I imagine "wololo" would practically work
  • jeremie_strand3 hours ago
    [dead]
  • erelong5 hours ago
    This sounds like FUD to get people to abandon one of our strongest cognitive enhancing toolsof all time
    • nickphxan hour ago
      so dear user, how does a non-deterministic black box of bullshit enhance cognition?
    • georgemcbay4 hours ago
      > This sounds like FUD to get people to abandon one of our strongest cognitive enhancing toolsof all time

      AI's existence is like the mental equivalent of a heavy weighted barbell that also happens to be edible and tastes delicious. You could use it in a way to get in great shape, you could also use it in a way where you get type 2 diabetes.

      It is up to you and your own experiences to decide how that is likely to go for most people.

      • erelong2 hours ago
        Exactly... I mean the article is "tautological nonsense". Misuse a hammer and you hit your hand, use it well and you drive nails quicker. That's why I just dismiss these posts as FUD from the rich who want people to turn in their hammers so they can move along quicker with less competition.
        • jdlshorean hour ago
          It’s a report on what looks a very well-researched study. You may not like the results, but calling it nonsense is ridiculous. Did you even read the article?
    • WolfeReader4 hours ago
      Nope, its a well-researched article which shows its sources and qualifies its conclusions. You may not like the conclusions, but that doesn't make it FUD.