this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2026
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269
Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task – MIT Media Lab (www.media.mit.edu)
submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by da_peda@lemmings.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Edit: There's a blog post on the failings of the study and the communication around it: Clickbait Neuroscience: Lessons from “Your Brain on ChatGPT” – Mind Brain Education

EEG revealed significant differences in brain connectivity: Brain-only participants exhibited the strongest, most distributed networks; Search Engine users showed moderate engagement; and LLM users displayed the weakest connectivity. Cognitive activity scaled down in relation to external tool use.

Over four months, LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.

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[–] a1studmuffin@aussie.zone 30 points 6 days ago (2 children)

This lines up with my completely unscientific observation that the people who have started relying heavily on AI are dumbasses.

[–] IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 16 points 6 days ago (1 children)

also lines up with my observation on how my cognitive skills declined while using it. it just stops you still thinking on your own.

[–] 18107@aussie.zone 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I recently used AI to make a plugin using a programming language I've never used before.

When working on similar projects in the past, I get to the end with a new understanding of the language and its capabilities.

This time, I think it took about 10% longer, was no easier overall (although each step seemed easier to start), and I feel like I still have basically no understanding of the language or its features.

If I were to start over, I'd still have to start learning from the beginning. AI has saved me no time at all, and the plugin still has plenty of subtle bugs I need to remove by hand.

[–] IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

I truly fear the technical debt we are accruing by AI, as experts die out, new ones will be less and less capable due to lack of experience, because AI might help you get the job done, but has no experience gained.

[–] Cocodapuf@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago

I've got some anecdotal evidence to suggest that people who go to the gym a lot also tend to be stronger. You know, there could be some connection between exercise and muscle growth... Someone should probably investigate that link, could be something there.