Cognitive decline is a broad term, and a research paper could claim "decline" if even a single cognitive metric loses strength.
When writing was invented, societies started depending on long form memorization less, which is a cognitive "decline". When calculators were invented, societies started depending on mental math less, which is a cognitive "decline".
I'm sure LLMs are doing the same thing. People aren't getting dumber, they are just outsourcing tasks more, so that their brains spend more time on the tasks that can't be outsourced.
When writing was invented, societies started depending on long form memorization less, which is a cognitive "decline". When calculators were invented, societies started depending on mental math less, which is a cognitive "decline".
I'm sure LLMs are doing the same thing. People aren't getting dumber, they are just outsourcing tasks more, so that their brains spend more time on the tasks that can't be outsourced.