Researchers from MIT ran a 4-month study comparing three groups:
1. People writing on their own
2. People using Google
3. People using ChatGPT
Brain scans revealed that brain activity dropped the more people relied on tools.
ChatGPT users had the weakest brain activity, and significantly lower engagement in regions linked to memory, attention, and synthesis (a 46% drop).
And here’s what worries me even more...
When ChatGPT users were asked to write without AI, their brain activity STAYED LOW. It was as if their minds had already outsourced the thinking.
They also:
-Scored lower on essay quality
-Felt less ownership over their work
-Couldn’t recall or quote what they’d written
TLDR:
The more you rely on AI to think for you, the less you’re activating the very systems that allow you to think deeply with it.
If we let our mental muscles atrophy, the long-term cost could be far more catastrophic than worse writing.
So, don’t outsource your thinking. You can use AI to stretch or challenge your thinking, but don’t let it become your brain’s replacement.
What are your thoughts? Do you think AI is quietly eroding our cognitive independence?
Here’s a link to the MIT study (Kosmyna et al., 2025): https://lnkd.in/gUP_JUUU
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