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SUMMARY:Cognitive Obesity: Will AI Do to Our Minds What Machines Did to Ou
 r Bodies and How Do We Stay Mentally Fit?
DTSTART:20261022T090000Z
DTEND:20261022T100000Z
DTSTAMP:20261107T171000Z
UID:indico-event-4213@indico.ijs.si
CONTACT:events@slaif.si
DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Dimitar Trajanov\n\nPredavatelji / Instructors: Pro
 fessor Dimitar Trajanov\, Ph.D. \nTwo centuries of mechanization have mad
 e us wealthier\, safer\, and more productive\, but also less physically ac
 tive and\, in some respects\, physically weaker. Studies suggest that adul
 t grip strength has declined by approximately 20% since the mid-1980s\, oc
 cupational energy expenditure has fallen by around 140 calories per day si
 nce the 1960s\, and physical inactivity contributes to millions of prematu
 re deaths annually. This transformation was not simply a failure of indivi
 dual discipline. Machines replaced physical effort\, societies reorganized
  around that convenience\, and activities that once maintained our physica
 l capabilities gradually disappeared from everyday life. Are we now witnes
 sing a similar transformation of the human mind?\n \nGenerative AI and in
 creasingly autonomous agents are beginning to replace not only routine cog
 nitive tasks but also activities central to learning\, reasoning\, creativ
 ity\, and decision-making. Unlike physical mechanization\, this transition
  is unfolding at unprecedented speed\, potentially affecting nearly every 
 domain of intellectual activity.\n \nThis talk introduces the Cognitive O
 besity Hypothesis and examines five emerging warning signs: reduced cognit
 ive engagement during AI-assisted writing\, the relationship between cogni
 tive offloading and diminished critical thinking\, AI dependence and weake
 r independent reasoning among students\, the potential deskilling of knowl
 edge workers as AI assistants evolve into autonomous agents\, and the grad
 ual disappearance of the desirable difficulties essential to deep learning
  and long-term knowledge retention. These findings are preliminary and do 
 not establish inevitable cognitive decline. The talk will also explore the
  counterargument that AI can enhance human intelligence by expanding our c
 apabilities rather than replacing them.\n \nThe second half turns from di
 agnosis to prevention. What can we learn from the successes and failures o
 f efforts to combat physical inactivity? I will argue that maintaining cog
 nitive fitness requires more than limiting AI use. It calls for deliberate
 ly preserving intellectually demanding activities\, developing reliable me
 asures of independent cognitive performance\, establishing institutional p
 ractices that protect human capabilities\, and cultivating a new culture o
 f mental training. This includes cognitive physical education\, deliberate
  AI-free practice\, and personal cognitive fitness indicators that make ou
 r independent abilities as visible and measurable as physical performance.
 \n \n \nProfessor Dimitar Trajanov\, Ph.D.\, is a visiting research prof
 essor at Boston University and a full professor at the Faculty of Computer
  Science and Engineering. Cyril and Methodius University –Skopje. In 202
 5\, he was elected as an Associate Member of the Macedonian Academy of Sci
 ences and Arts. In addition to his academic roles\, he serves as an AI con
 sultant for leading international and national companies\, providing exper
 tise in cutting-edge AI technologies. \nFrom March 2011 until September 2
 015\, he was the founding dean of the Faculty of Computer Science and Engi
 neering. During his tenure\, he successfully established and expanded the 
 faculty\, transforming it into the largest and most prestigious technical 
 faculty in Macedonia. From 2024 to 2025\, Dimitar was a member of the Nati
 onal Higher Education Accreditation Board\, and from 2026\, a member of th
 e National Council for Higher Education and Scientific Research. From 2015
  to 2022\, he was Head of the Department of Information Systems and Networ
 k Technologies. Dimitar Trajanov is the leader of the Regional Social Inno
 vation Hub\, which was established in 2013 as a cooperation between the Un
 ited Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Faculty of Computer Scie
 nce and Engineering. \nHe has authored over 200 journal and conference pa
 pers and seven books and has been actively involved in more than 70 resear
 ch and industry projects\, serving as the project leader for over 40 of th
 em. His research interests span Artificial Intelligence (AI)\, Data Scienc
 e\, Machine Learning\, Natural Language Processing (NLP)\, Semantic Web\, 
 FinTech\, AI Applications in Health and Pharmacology\, Technology for Deve
 lopment\, and Climate Change. He is currently the Project Leader of VEZILK
 A\, a Horizon Europe project to establish an AI Factory Antenna in North M
 acedonia.\nIn recognition of his outstanding research contributions\, he r
 eceived the prestigious Best Scientist Award for the year 2023 at Ss. Cyri
 l and Methodius University is in the field of technical and engineering sc
 iences\n\nhttps://indico.ijs.si/event/4213/
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LOCATION:Faculty of Computer and Information Science
URL:https://indico.ijs.si/event/4213/
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