Does using AI make us dumber?

Dear Readers,

What happens in our heads when we work with ChatGPT? A new study from MIT provides a disturbing answer: brain activity decreases when people use AI to write. Fewer neuronal connections, shorter texts, decreasing cognitive effort - a disturbing picture that immediately leads some to ask: Is AI making us dumber?

But perhaps this question is too short-sighted.

After all, every technology makes things easier. The pocket calculator has pushed back mental arithmetic - but has it abolished thinking? Rather, it has made room for more complex tasks. AI could reorganize thinking in a similar way: less mechanical formulation, more strategic thinking - if we let it.

But this is precisely the crux of the matter: we are at a turning point where society must define what “thinking” will mean in the future. Is it the acquisition of knowledge? Combining, questioning, challenging answers - including those of AI?

In Today’s Issue:

All the best,

With a drum roll in your head: What really happens in our brains when we use ChatGPT?

Researchers at MIT investigated how writing with AI affects brain activity. They divided 54 volunteers into three groups: one used ChatGPT, one used Google, and one used no help at all. While everyone wrote essays, their brain activity was measured using EEG. The surprising result: ChatGPT users showed significantly less neural activity, weaker connections between brain regions – and relied more and more on AI the more they used it. The texts became shorter and the cognitive effort less.

This shows that AI can make our thinking easier – but it can also lull us into complacency. Those who use it uncritically leave more and more of the thinking to the machine. The exciting question for the AI community is therefore: How can we manage to see AI as a support without losing our cognitive abilities?

At the same time, however, we must ask ourselves what critical thinking actually is and whether the cause of a lack of critical thinking lies in the education system, even if we take the study mentioned here seriously.

Why it matters: This research shows that AI use measurably changes our brains.

It calls for technology to be designed in such a way that it does not replace but rather strengthens what makes us human. At the same time, however, we must question the study insofar as knowledge and critical thinking are social responsibilities and educational goals. Reducing everything to AI and chatbots is too simplistic!

Sources:

🔗 https://futurism.com/neoscope/brain-eeg-chatgpt

🔗 https://news.mit.edu/2025/eeg-reveals-brain-chatgpt-essay-writing-0619

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