The Ability to Think Yourself!

I do not have any technical qualifications, but I can – and do – use my computer and smartphone quite a lot. Perhaps you do too. But there is an emerging problem – and it is a big one. New research suggests that since artificial intelligence tools offer instant answers, they are causing us to do less thinking. This is clear from a recent study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) which produced some very troubling results.

The MIT study divided 54 people aged 18 to 39 from the Boston area into three groups. They were asked to read and analyse a passage and then produce an essay in response to a single prompt about that passage using OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s search engine, and nothing at all, respectively. Researchers used an EEG to record the writers’ brain activity, and found that of the three groups, ChatGPT users had the lowest brain engagement and “consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioural levels.” Over the course of several months, ChatGPT users got lazier with each subsequent essay, often resorting to copy-and-paste by the end of the study.

One of the implications of this study and of the rise of artificial intelligence, is that the quality of decision making is dropping. I get this!

For example, why do I always decide to trust the sat nav on my car to take me on the best route to where I am going? I still do that, even though it has sometimes taken me up narrow country lanes, and on one memorable occasion directed me into a field!

Recently a new Artificial Intelligence company promoted itself with the slogan ‘This is the end of human thought.’ And it uses the advertising line ‘It is time to cheat… Interviews; Sales calls; Homework; Meetings; Really everything!

Those are very scary thoughts indeed! I really do find the invitation to set aside my ability to think – and hand it over to computer software – to be both degrading and terrifying at the same time. To enter a world where artificial machine intelligence is promoted to replace real human intelligence and good judgement, is one totally alien to what it means to be human, and to be made in the image of God. And to realise that inevitably I will be interacting with such software, and not be aware of it, is deeply disconcerting.

The ability to think is one of the core reasons why I am a Christian. Indeed, I am encouraged in the Bible to allow God to transform me by the renewing of my mind. For me, rational thought is entirely consistent with my having real faith. Indeed, if my mind is not linked closely to my faith, then that faith is simply so much wishful thinking.

Yet, as this type of technology becomes ever more prevalent, the challenge of communicating and proclaiming the truth of the Gospel to a society that increasingly values non-thinking and cheating is going to become ever more difficult. That challenge highlights for me the crucial importance of ‘personal witness.’ …telling people what Christ has done for me and allowing them to see how my faith in the Lord shapes my attitudes, my behaviour, my words – indeed every aspect of my life. And that too is scary!

Artificial intelligence can certainly bring knowledge and facts to us quickly and easily. But my experience to date has taught me that rather than relying heavily on these tools, I’m far better off to still use the brain that God has given me, be grateful for the privilege of being able to think, and seek the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit day in day out. Frankly, that is a life which is enriched by the Lord, rather than demeaned by AI.