---
title: "ChatGPT Subverts Common Sense: How Cognitive Delegation Is Changing the Thinking of Entire Generations"
description: "The emergence of ChatGPT has triggered the phenomenon of cognitive delegation: people increasingly trust decisions to algorithms, losing the habit of verifying information and relying on their own experience. Experts warn of the risk of an impoverished information space."
date: 2026-11-02T07:28:53.396Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/chatgpt-cognitive-delegation-common-sense
tags: [chatgpt, artificial-intelligence, cognitive-delegation, openai, critical-thinking, language-models]
author: "Alexander Buran"
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# ChatGPT Subverts Common Sense: How Cognitive Delegation Is Changing the Thinking of Entire Generations

![Young man at a laptop looking at an AI chatbot, reflecting on cognitive delegation.](https://xab.info/media/2026/11/02/chatgpt-kognitivnaya-delegaciya-zdoroviy-gluzd/chatgpt-kognitivnaya-delegaciya-zdoroviy-gluzd-1.webp)

## Key Points

- ChatGPT turned AI from a background technology into a mass direct-dialogue tool, sparking the phenomenon of cognitive delegation
- The history of AI spans over 80 years: from the 1943 neural network and the 1950 Turing test to the 1956 Dartmouth Conference
- Sam Altman announced the onset of a stage comparable to technological singularity
- Automatic search engine answers and LLM text generation accelerate the decline of reading culture and critical analysis
- Fact-checking and critical thinking remain the primary tools against disinformation in the era of generative AI

The emergence of ChatGPT and other generative language models has transformed artificial intelligence from a specialized technical tool into a mass cultural phenomenon. While neural networks previously operated as an invisible layer of everyday life — in Amazon and Netflix recommendation algorithms, spam filters, navigators, and machine translation services — users now interact with AI directly through simple text prompts. In just a few years, large language models have become synonymous with the entire concept of 'artificial intelligence' in global public discourse. And along with this shift comes a question that has yet to be fully understood: are we getting used to blindly delegating our own decisions to algorithms, gradually losing our own common sense?

### From the 1943 Neural Network to the Pocket Chatbot

The history of artificial intelligence research dates back to the mid-20th century. In 1943, the first mathematical model of a neuron was described — the so-called 'Pitts-McCulloch machine' (referred to here as the Wilson machine), laying the groundwork for subsequent research. In 1950, Alan Turing published a paper proposing his famous test, a criterion to evaluate whether a computer is capable of exhibiting behavior indistinguishable from that of a human. The term 'artificial intelligence' itself only became established as a research field in 1956 at the Dartmouth Conference, where a group of scientists first formulated the tasks we today associate with AI. For the average user, however, the technology only became truly close and tangible when it became possible to converse with it in natural language — without programming, without special interfaces, simply by entering a text prompt.

### Cooking a Chicken via Chatbot Recipe: An Illustration of Cognitive Delegation

One of the striking everyday examples cited by the RBC publication is the story of a person who decided to roast a chicken using a recipe provided by a chatbot. The program contained errors, including instructions on how to use a culinary thermometer. Despite a warning from another person, the user continued to trust the algorithm's advice and nearly ruined the dish. At first glance, this is an amusing domestic episode. But taken together with dozens of similar cases, it illustrates a growing phenomenon that researchers call 'cognitive delegation': by transferring routine and even non-routine decisions to artificial intelligence, people begin to rely less on their own life experience, intuition, and basic logic. The algorithm is perceived as an authority whose word is not subject to re-verification.

### The 'Technological Singularity' According to Altman

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated in recent public speeches that humanity is at a stage he associates with the concept of technological singularity — the moment when the boundary between artificial and human intelligence begins to blur. Such formulations from one of the industry's most influential tech leaders set the tone for the entire public discussion: AI ceases to be 'just another application' and becomes a subject of philosophical and existential debate. Regardless of how literal the category of 'singularity' is in this context, the very fact that such statements are made by the head of the company that created ChatGPT underscores the scale of the shift that has occurred over the past few years.

### Impoverishment of the Information Space and the Crisis of Reading Culture

Beyond the direct delegation of decisions, the widespread proliferation of AI carries more hidden challenges. Short automated responses in search engines and aggregators discourage users from independently reading full materials, cross-referencing data across multiple sources, and building their own lines of reasoning. Instead, a person accepts as a ready-made conclusion what the algorithm has generated based on an aggregation of input data that does not always reflect the real picture. Reading culture, already enduring a difficult period in the digital media era, is accelerating its decline: the mass use of language models to generate summaries, analytical notes, and reports makes text even more homogeneous and formulaic. Language models, in turn, bring their own hidden patterns into communication — phrasings, argumentation structures, rhythm — which gradually shape new language habits in younger generations and, consequently, influence how public opinion is constructed and transmitted.

### Critical Thinking as the Last Line of Defense

The advent of ChatGPT marked a technological and public turning point comparable in scale to the mass adoption of the internet. However, as analysts emphasize, it will take years, and perhaps decades, for society to fully assess the consequences of this shift and understand whether the benefits of automation and knowledge accessibility outweigh the risks of cognitive dependence on algorithms. In the meantime, as AI generates texts, images, and even scientific hypotheses with growing speed, the primary tools for humans to combat disinformation and self-deception remain two skills immune to automation: fact-checking and critical thinking. The ability to question an algorithm rather than simply accepting its answer is arguably the key skill of the coming decade.

## Fact-Check & Sources

- [ChatGPT подменяет здравый смысл: почему люди слепо доверяют решениям чат-ботов](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/chatgpt-pidminyae-zdoroviy-gluzd-chomu-lyudi-1793375351.html) - Primary source. Historical dates (1943 neural network, 1950 Turing test, 1956 Dartmouth Conference) match generally accepted chronology. Altman's statement is reported as an attributive quote. The chicken example is a domestic episode not requiring additional verification.
- [Забудь про «секретные формулы» для ChatGPT. Почему промпт-инжиниринг — это просто здравый смысл.](https://www.sostav.ru/blogs/289621/101492) - Additional context source. Confirms the thesis that working with LLMs does not require 'magic' but relies on clear task formulation. Introduces no factual discrepancies with the primary source.

## FAQ

### What is cognitive delegation?

Cognitive delegation is the process by which a person transfers decision-making (from everyday to professional) to artificial intelligence, gradually reducing reliance on their own experience, intuition, and critical analysis. As a result, the algorithm is perceived as an absolute authority.

### When did the history of artificial intelligence begin?

The first mathematical model of a neuron was described in 1943. In 1950, Alan Turing proposed a test to evaluate machine intelligence, and the term 'artificial intelligence' was established at the 1956 Dartmouth Conference.

### What did Sam Altman state about the current stage of AI development?

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated that humanity is at a stage he associates with the concept of technological singularity, where the boundary between artificial and human intelligence begins to blur.

### What risks does the mass use of AI pose for reading and learning?

Experts point to the risk of an impoverished information space: short automated answers discourage people from independently verifying sources, and text generation via language models makes content more homogeneous, shaping new linguistic habits in younger generations.