I agree that LLMs are hurting the general population’s capacity to think (assuming they use it often. I’ve certainly noticed a slight trend among students I’ve taught to use less effort, and myself to some extent).
I don’t agree that this will affect ML progress much, since the general population isn’t contributing to core ML research.
LLMs destroying any sort of capacity (and incentive) for the population to think pushes this further and further out each day