If I had told you in 1970 about a tool that would allow people to quickly communicate and collaborate with anyone else, store vast amounts of information, and make it all easily searchable, you would have probably predicted that it would significantly boost humanity’s progress. However, as technology has advanced, it has become clear that the internet has both benefits and drawbacks when it comes to productivity and cognitive ability.
The internet should have made us smarter and more capable as a collective. But, while it is true that we can find information faster and more efficiently than ever before, the constant distractions that come with it have weakened our powers of concentration and contemplation. Gloria Mark, a professor of information science, has found that people now struggle to focus on a single task for more than 47 seconds on average, thanks to digital distractions from emails, notifications, and various forms of entertainment.
As we move forward, we are beginning to see the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models. Many believe that these systems will boost productivity by streamlining communication and creating content faster than humans can. However, we must be careful not to make the same mistakes we made with the internet and prioritize effectiveness over the potential costs.
One potential downside to AI is that these systems could become more focused on distracting and entertaining users than on helping them to focus. Furthermore, while AI is great for producing content where reliability is not a concern, it could lead to problems in important fields such as medicine, where accuracy is vital.
Another issue is that the sheer volume of information generated by large language models could cause information overload and lead to reduced productivity. The human ability to process information is the bottleneck, and the more information we produce, the harder it becomes to process it all effectively. The increased efficiency that AI promises could come at the expense of new ideas and deeper insights.
To fully realize the potential of AI, we need to use it to deepen our intelligence, not diminish it. We must build workflows and office environments that support productivity and cognitive development rather than overwhelming and distracting us. By avoiding the pitfalls of the past, we can achieve a brighter technological future.
