Study Reveals Decline in Intelligence Among Individuals
**The shift from reading to consuming video content may have diminished human intelligence, research finds** Human intellectual abilities, including reasoning and problem-solving, appear to be on the decline, potentially due to increased exposure...
TroibNews 
**The shift from reading to consuming video content may have diminished human intelligence, research finds**
Human intellectual abilities, including reasoning and problem-solving, appear to be on the decline, potentially due to increased exposure to visual media, according to a report from the Financial Times.
The article indicates that human intelligence likely peaked in the early 2010s and has been declining since, a trend noted by data from the PISA program, an international assessment for 15-year-olds encompassing reading, mathematics, and science, as well as evaluations of adult cognitive performance.
This decrease in recorded intellectual capacity coincides with the rise of artificial intelligence, which some forecasts suggest may exceed human IQ within a few years.
The increase in high school students reporting challenges in PISA assessments corresponds with a significant shift in how people interact with information, particularly the movement away from reading in favor of visual content, the publication noted.
While intentional and active engagement with digital technologies can be advantageous, passive consumption of limitless content on social media, alongside frequent context-switching, has been shown to adversely affect attention spans, memory, and self-regulation. Notably, the decline in reading among Americans has been linked to a decrease in numeracy and other problem-solving skills in numerous countries.
Furthermore, research from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University highlights that human intellectual capacities, including critical thinking, have been compromised by generative AI. Relying on AI for cognitive tasks can leave individuals' minds “atrophied and unprepared,” leading to “the deterioration of cognitive faculties that ought to be preserved.”
Substantial investments have been made by companies and governments in AI research, focusing on diverse areas such as machine learning, natural language processing, and automation. Tech giants like Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI have developed advanced models, including ChatGPT and Gemini, that are capable of executing complex cognitive tasks.
In December, tech billionaire Elon Musk cautioned that AI could surpass human intelligence within the next three years, shortly after his AI company, xAI, debuted its first image generation model, Aurora.
Jessica Kline contributed to this article for TROIB News
Human intellectual abilities, including reasoning and problem-solving, appear to be on the decline, potentially due to increased exposure to visual media, according to a report from the Financial Times.
The article indicates that human intelligence likely peaked in the early 2010s and has been declining since, a trend noted by data from the PISA program, an international assessment for 15-year-olds encompassing reading, mathematics, and science, as well as evaluations of adult cognitive performance.
This decrease in recorded intellectual capacity coincides with the rise of artificial intelligence, which some forecasts suggest may exceed human IQ within a few years.
The increase in high school students reporting challenges in PISA assessments corresponds with a significant shift in how people interact with information, particularly the movement away from reading in favor of visual content, the publication noted.
While intentional and active engagement with digital technologies can be advantageous, passive consumption of limitless content on social media, alongside frequent context-switching, has been shown to adversely affect attention spans, memory, and self-regulation. Notably, the decline in reading among Americans has been linked to a decrease in numeracy and other problem-solving skills in numerous countries.
Furthermore, research from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University highlights that human intellectual capacities, including critical thinking, have been compromised by generative AI. Relying on AI for cognitive tasks can leave individuals' minds “atrophied and unprepared,” leading to “the deterioration of cognitive faculties that ought to be preserved.”
Substantial investments have been made by companies and governments in AI research, focusing on diverse areas such as machine learning, natural language processing, and automation. Tech giants like Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI have developed advanced models, including ChatGPT and Gemini, that are capable of executing complex cognitive tasks.
In December, tech billionaire Elon Musk cautioned that AI could surpass human intelligence within the next three years, shortly after his AI company, xAI, debuted its first image generation model, Aurora.
Jessica Kline contributed to this article for TROIB News
