this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2026
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Public Health

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"Cognitive surrender" leads AI users to abandon logical thinking, research finds (arstechnica.com)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz to c/publichealth@mander.xyz
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When it comes to large language model-powered tools, there are generally two broad categories of users. On one side are those who treat AI as a powerful but sometimes faulty service that needs careful human oversight and review to detect reasoning or factual flaws in responses. On the other side are those who routinely outsource their critical thinking to what they see as an all-knowing machine.

Recent research goes a long way to forming a new psychological framework for that second group, which regularly engages in “cognitive surrender” to AI’s seemingly authoritative answers. That research also provides some experimental examination of when and why people are willing to outsource their critical thinking to AI, and how factors like time pressure and external incentives can affect that decision.

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[–] Paragone@lemmy.world -2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

This makes clearer that critical-thinking can't be a mere add-on, it has to be the bedrock of people's capability, ideally of 4/5ths of the population as a minimum-standard, XOR social-highjacking by ideologies & AI is certain.

Unless someone's identity is including critical-thinking, then they're prone to cognitive abdication, either to ideology or to LLM, both are the same fundamental abdication.

I didn't know that LLMs were gaining the same abdication that ideologies have been gaining, but .. now that that paper mentions some evidence, it looks clear.

( "religions" are another highjacker of minds.. all religions which displace critical-thinking do the same thing.

For anybody who claims that religion always displaces critical-thinking, you've obviously no experience with Vajrayana style ruthlessly-correct reasoning.

I say Vajrayana style, but it could well be pervasive throughout the different south Asian branches of AwakeSoulism/Buddhism: I don't know.

Western philosophy is mushy-as-hell, by Vajrayana's standards for objectivity & correctness )

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[–] mimavox@piefed.social 4 points 1 week ago

Sorry, but you obviously know nothing about Western philosophy if you think that it as "mushy" and contain no logical thinking. It is the exact opposite. Religion is another story, though. Don't conflate the two.

[–] mfed1122@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

TIL formal first order logic is mushy