It is very disappointing to see posts in many places that say that people are now very dependent on things like that foundational models made available by fauxOpenAI etc.

While there is tremendous value in those technologies, it is one thing to become dependent on it to the detriment of using one’s own capability to think.

Let’s tease this out and understand why.

Back when Homo sapiens managed to get oxen, horses, buffalos, donkeys, camels to be extensions to human brawn, we made significant progress. We created agriculture, we created commerce and along the way we created prosperity and societies flourished.

That went on for thousands of years and it was not until the invention of the steam engine, that we started on the use of non-biological entities to magnify human abilities. We see that in play every single minute, everywhere.

That all lead to increased standards of living and the highly productive human enterprise.

Did we become weaker (loss of muscle) in that process? Not really. We merely magnified our limited strengths and the results are stunning.

Did that atrophy our muscles? Not at all. Atrophy comes as we age and we don’t exercise and we let nature/biology take it’s course. Can it be mitigated? For sure. Weight training, resistance training all help. But we can be very productive for a long time.

Where is the human brain in this equation? The human brain was what helped devise all of these tools and technology to assist. Those were extension to the brain in many ways.

With generative AI or AI in general, is that extension still valid? Yes, it is very much valid. But, unlike us depending on wheelbarrows, shovels, hammers, planes, cars, rockets to get things done, if we stop using our brains and depend entirely on foundation models that make up generative AI, we would be done for.

Why do I say that? What distinguishes Humanity from most of Nature is that we can connect the dots, think imaginatively, speculate ideas, dream, do critical thinking and all of those are what has brought us to what we have today.

If, instead, we just depend on foundation models for everything, how would we know what is being provided is correct, in the first instance, and relevant etc?

We have used electronic calculators for decades now. Most of us have an innate understanding of numbers. The earliest of human civilisations had rudimentary number systems for the purposes that they needed it to be used in. By using calculators, did we extinguish our math intuitions? Not at all.

It is with that background that I am glad to read the Oregon Health Sciences University has stated that: “It is critically important that students not “shortchange” their learning by being overly reliant on generative AI systems. While most scientific fields have long surpassed the amount of knowledge that can be maintained in a human brain, it is important to have a fundamental core of knowledge and understanding in memory to be able to apply critical thinking to problems and analyses. In addition, just as students must attribute use of papers, books, and other sources in their work, they must also attribute use of generative AI when it is used in discussion forums or assignments.“

Use it or lose it.