Russian British Scientists Confirm: AI Might Be Making Us Dumber
MIT Media Lab just released a 200-page study exploring how large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT affect the human brain.
Spoiler: it’s not good news.
Inside the Experiment: Essays, EEGs, and Chocolate
Researchers asked three groups of students to write essays:
One used ChatGPT, the second used Google,
The third went old-school—with just chocolate (and cheat sheets, though that part didn’t make the paper).
While they wrote, researchers monitored their brain activity using EEG.
The Findings: Less Effort, Less Thinking
Brains worked less when students had AI assistance. Those using ChatGPT showed the lowest brain engagement.
The results? Boring, generic essays—and students couldn’t even recall what they wrote.
Worse, they felt less satisfied with their work—an early warning sign of AI-induced burnout or depression.
MIT’s Warning: AI Undermines Independent Thinking
AI makes knowledge more accessible, but at the cost of deeper cognitive effort. Students using LLMs showed signs of weaker memory, reduced critical thinking, and overall dependence on external tools.
AI doesn’t make you smarter—it makes you less capable of learning.
Do you use AI in your studies or work? Have you noticed a shift in how you think?
In the next post, I’ll show you how I build custom AI bots in five minutes using just voice notes.
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