AI chatbot use by children shows signs of ‘cognitive stunting,’ researchers say

AI chatbot use could be linked to lower cognitive engagement and development for children, according to reporting by the Los Angeles Times. 

Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology assessed a group of 6- and 7-year-olds and 16 adults’ brain activity while using ChatGPT, and found that adults’ creative output with ChatGPT remained about the same as without the chatbot, while children with high creativity showed a drop in imaginary stores after using ChatGPT. The study, which used fMRI scanners to detect brain activity, also found less synchronized blood flow to brain regions associated with attention and information processing in children compared to adults. 

High school students allowed to use ChatGPT as a study aid also performed well on practice questions but did worse on tests compared to peers not using AI after the tool was taken away. 

The study, prereleased last year and awaiting peer review, suggests that “six years old [is] probably too early to use generative AI tools,” according to Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus, a co-author of the study and head of Technion’s Educational Neuroimaging Group.

Another paper published last year showed that among high school students, those who used AI scored 17% lower than those without AI. Those who used an AI tutor — which did not provide direct answers to questions — scored the same as students without AI. 

Researcher Rebecca Winthrop, a senior fellow and director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, coined the term “cognitive stunting” to describe the impact of AI use on children. 

“Overreliance on AI reduces children’s opportunities to engage in effortful thinking, thereby stunting their cognitive development,” Winthrop wrote in May. “Students may never fully develop the suite of thinking skills that educators, and other caring adults in children’s lives, work to help them cultivate.”

This story was originally published by EdSource.