Why Memory Still Matters in the Age of AI

The paper “Why Memory Still Matters in the Age of AI” tells us that the real risk isn’t AI. It’s unconscientious use of AI

Highlights:

1. We’re told: “Don’t memorize — just look it up. BUT: You can’t think critically about what you don’t already know. In a world full of AI tools and search engines, cognitive offloading* is becoming the norm. It feels efficient but weakens our memory systems and prevents the formation of so-called schemata (the mental models that enable deep understanding, creativity and pattern recognition).

2. Critical thinking is not a skill alone, it is a skill built on knowledge. Without stored knowledge, we miss prediction errors, cannot generalize and lose our edge.

Some thoughts on solution:

- I use ChatGPT for quick researches quite often. Things like definitions, broader concepts to explain works well

- As soon as things get more complex, I engage in a more Socratic questioning mode in which I engage IT it re-think what it just produced, always questioning the knowledge output in particular.

- Thanks to this article, I will try to internalize this produced knowledge more. Sometimes by retrieving previous discussion threads about it and re-engaging in discussions.

Any tips, hints, ideas ?

#AI #LearningScience #CognitiveScience #Education #CriticalThinking #Memory #TheMemoryParadox

*Cognitive offloading is defined as the act of using external tools or resources (like smartphones, calculators, search engines, or notes) to reduce the burden on your internal memory and thinking processes.

Here is the full article