this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2026
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261
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 2 days ago* (last edited 2 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 26 points 2 days ago (2 children)

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

[–] Cocodapuf@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day 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.

[–] IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 14 points 2 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 1 day ago

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.