Is AI Like ChatGPT Making Our Brains Stupid?

MIT researchers uncover how using AI tools like ChatGPT can reduce brain activity and weaken cognitive skills. Usage of AI can make you stupid!

It’s the kind of question that floats around in tech conversations, but now, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have some eye-opening data to back it up. A lot of parents and educators as well as wise students are asking, "Is AI making our brains stupid?"

Is AI Like ChatGPT Making Our Brains Stupid?

A recent MIT study dug deep into what happens inside your brain when you lean on large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT for help—and the results may make you rethink how you use AI.

The Experiment: Three Ways to Write

The researchers set up a simple but revealing test. Participants were split into three groups:

1. Brain-Only: No tech help. Just their own thoughts, knowledge, and creativity.
2. Search Engine Group: Allowed to use Google.
3. AI Group: Given access to ChatGPT (researchers noted competitors had similar capabilities).

Then, each participant was tasked with writing essays on various topics. While they worked, electroencephalography (EEG) measured their brain activity and neural engagement.

What the EEG Revealed

The differences were striking:

• Brain-Only Group: Their grey matter lit up the most. There was high neural connectivity and strong cognitive engagement.
• Search Engine Group: Slightly less active brains than the unaided group but still processing information meaningfully.
• AI Group: Lowest brain activity levels by far.

According to the study, "the more support the subjects had from tools, the less their brains had to work."

Memory and “Ownership” of Work

The researchers also measured “ownership”. In other words, how well participants could recall, quote, and summarise their own writing later.

• Brain-Only writers? Could reliably remember and explain their essays.
• Search users? Still retained a decent grasp of their work.
• AI users? Often couldn’t quote accurately, and their essays tended to be statistically homogeneous. In plain terms, AI-generated content looked suspiciously alike across multiple people.

And here's an interesting note: the visual cortex... the brain’s “looking and interpreting” area, was more active for the Search and AI groups. Why? Because they were focusing on the tool’s output rather than mentally generating ideas themselves.

Longer-Term Effects: Switching Roles

The MIT team didn’t stop after the first round. They reshuffled participants:

• Brain-to-LLM: People who started tech-free were now allowed AI assistance.
• LLM-to-Brain: People who had used AI from the start now had to work without it.

What happened?

• LLM-to-Brain group: Showed weaker neural connectivity and sluggish alpha/beta brain wave activity. Their cognitive systems just didn’t kick into gear the same way.
• Brain-to-LLM group: Displayed high memory recall and strong re-engagement of critical brain areas. Adding AI after thinking things through seemed to enhance their cognitive output, integrating their original thought process with AI support.

Lead researchers summed it up:  

“Using your own brain first, then incorporating AI, leads to better cognitive integration and memory reactivation. But starting with AI reduces mental effort over time.”

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Why This Matters in Education and Everyday Life

Although the study worked with a limited sample size (a few dozen participants), the implications are urgent. AI is rapidly becoming ingrained in schools, workplaces, and everyday problem-solving.

If the results hold true across larger, more diverse groups, we could be looking at a future where overreliance on AI dulls our natural thinking and learning skills.

The researchers warned about a “pressing matter”... a likely decline in learning ability when AI becomes a substitute for actual thought.

The Takeaway: Think First, AI Second

Here’s the distilled wisdom:

• Best Approach: Use your brain to fully explore and frame ideas first, then bring AI into the mix for refining, fact-checking, or adding context.
• Risky Approach: Relying on AI from the start... especially for idea generation, can make your brain less active over time.
• Middle Ground: Search engine use sits between unaided work and AI reliance, but with search results increasingly infused with AI, even this zone is shifting.

In the researchers’ words:

“Before LLMs are recognised as net positive for humans, more study is required to understand the long-term effects on the brain.”

What You Can Do Right Now

If you want to maintain your mental sharpness while still benefiting from AI, try this:

1. Brainstorm Without Tech: Spend 10–15 minutes jotting down ideas or structuring your work before touching any tool.
2. Use AI as a Partner, Not a Crutch: Ask it to elaborate, fact-check, or polish... not to think for you.
3. Reflect and Recap: Summarise your work in your own words after finishing. This reinforces memory and ownership.

What Say You?

Do you feel more like your brain is “coasting” when you use AI, or does it help you think better? Share your thoughts in the comments. And if you found this blog post useful, pass it along... someone else might need the reminder.

Images credit: Shutterstock