Not disputing the role of tech, but since 2016, the pandemic is definitely a factor, long before AI became a phenomenon, many of us who were teaching noticed students' memory and cognition impacted by COVID. Of course we are all pretending that it isn't, because the pandemic is "over", apparently.
Reposted from
Marieke van Vugt
Are the Internet and AI affecting our memory? What the science says. I should add to that that repeating the same complex working memory task in a similar population now leads to worse performance than in 2016... www.nature.com/articles/d41...
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I don't know of any similar way to test the tech hypothesis as its influence isn't so easily measured.
I generally worry about proven effects more than the unproven hypothesis and this is no exception.
Humans use tools. That is literally what separates us from almost all other animals. Nobody makes tools for things easy without tools.
"Is the abacus affecting our ability to count? What the science says."
In fact, I think picking up rocks was a wrong turn for our species. I'm going to complain about that on my phone for the rest of the evening. 😉
https://bsky.app/profile/daniellebeckman.bsky.social/post/3lhhboi3oo22d
Don't follow @daniellebeckman.bsky.social if you don't want to continue thinking about this.