Use of large language models might affect our cognitive skills

3 min read Original article ↗
  • Comment
  • Published:

Nature Human Behaviour volume 8pages 805–806 (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

Large language models can generate sophisticated text or code with little input from a user, which has the potential to impoverish our own writing and thinking skills. We need to understand the effect of this technology on our cognition and to decide whether this is what we want.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals

Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription

$32.99 / 30 days

cancel any time

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles

$119.00 per year

only $9.92 per issue

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Heersmink, R. Rev. Phil. Psychol. 4, 465–481 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Carr, N. The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains (W. W. Norton & Co., 2010).

  3. Mao, Y., White, T., Sadler, P. & Sonnert, G. Educ. Stud. Math. 94, 69–83 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Hejtmánek, L., Oravcová, I., Motýl, J., Horáček, J. & Fajnerová, I. Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud. 116, 15–24 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Sparrow, B., Liu, J. & Wegner, D. M. Science 333, 776–778 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Menary, R. Lang. Sci. 29, 621–632 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Clark, A. Supersizing the Mind: Embodiment, Action, and Cognitive Extension (Oxford Univ. Press, 2008).

  8. Heersmink, R. Phenomenol. Cogn. Sci. 14, 577–598 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Sutton, J. in The Extended Mind (ed. Menary, R.) 189–225 (MIT Press, 2010).

  10. Heersmink, R. Minds Mach. 26, 389–407 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

I thank M. Colombo and J. Clavel Vazquez for helpful comments on an earlier draft and B. de Rooij for interesting discussions on LLMs.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Digital Sciences, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands

    Richard Heersmink

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Richard Heersmink.

Ethics declarations

Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Heersmink, R. Use of large language models might affect our cognitive skills. Nat Hum Behav 8, 805–806 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01859-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01859-y

This article is cited by