Artificial Intelligence: A Hidden Danger to Human Minds

SadaNews - Artificial intelligence is often described as a thinking machine, a digital mind approaching human intelligence. However, John Nosta, an innovation theorist and founder of Nosta Lab, a research center for innovation and technology, argues that large language models do not think like humans at all.

In fact, Nosta describes artificial intelligence as "anti-intelligence" because it operates in ways that conflict with human thinking, learning, and understanding.

He told "Business Insider": "My conclusion is that artificial intelligence is contrary to human cognition," adding, "I even call it anti-intelligence," according to a report from the site that was reviewed by "Al Arabiya Business".

The essence of Nosta's argument is in a simple but alarming claim: artificial intelligence does not understand anything in the human sense. He stated that when people think about something - like an apple - they place it in the context of space, time, memory, culture, and life experience.

He added that the large language model does none of that. Instead, artificial intelligence represents the word as a mathematical object within a vast multidimensional space, searching for statistically aligning patterns, according to him.

He continued: "The apple does not exist as an apple... it exists as a vector in multidimensional space," explaining that this distinction is important because it means that the outputs of artificial intelligence are optimized for coherence and consistency rather than understanding.

He pointed out that the system does not arrive at answers through logic, but rather produces responses that best fit the pattern of language.

Why does artificial intelligence turn human thinking upside down?

Nosta believes that artificial intelligence quietly reshapes the way people think, especially in the workplace.

He explained that human cognition typically follows a familiar path: confusion, exploration, building an initial structure, and finally arriving at confidence. Artificial intelligence flips this sequence.

He said, "With artificial intelligence, we start with the structure... we begin with coherence, fluency, and a sense of perfection, and then we find confidence."

This inversion creates a powerful illusion. Nosta noted that the answers generated by artificial intelligence appear polished and credible, and therefore people often accept them immediately without the necessary effort of questioning, exploring, and fully understanding.

He added: "Arriving at the answer first is an inversion of the human cognitive process. This contradicts human thought."

The Danger of Smooth Answers

The danger does not lie in artificial intelligence outperforming humans in abstract calculations, as Nosta states this is inevitable; rather, what concerns him is how easily people delegate the most important aspects of thinking to external entities.

He noted: "The stumbles, difficulties, and frictions are what enable us to arrive at observations and hypotheses that truly develop who we are."

As some companies seek to encourage their employees to rely entirely on artificial intelligence for writing, analysis, and decision-making, Nosta pointed out that speed and fluency are often misunderstood as true understanding.

He added that using artificial intelligence as a partner can enhance human thinking, while using it as a shortcut can quietly undermine it.

He said: "The magic is not necessarily in artificial intelligence... but in the iterative dynamic between humans and machines."

Nosta sees the real danger of the artificial intelligence era not in smarter machines, but in humans learning to think in reverse.

Growing Concerns

Concerns are mounting about how artificial intelligence reshapes human thinking, even among non-specialists.

Researchers at Oxford University Press found in a recent report that artificial intelligence makes students faster and more fluent, while simultaneously weakening the depth that comes from pausing, questioning, and independent thinking.

A report from the "Work AI" Institute, released last month, showed the same pattern, confirming that generative artificial intelligence often creates an illusion of expertise, making users feel smarter and more productive, even as their fundamental skills erode.

Mahdi Barayafi, CEO of the International Data Centers Association, which advises companies and governments on building data centers that support artificial intelligence, stated that excessive use and poor design of artificial intelligence leads to "hidden cognitive erosion."