New MIT study suggests that too much AI use could increase cognitive decline

The federal government has been diving headfirst into artificial intelligence lately, testing it for use in everything from healthcare to human resources. This is happening as tech companies continue to lobby for the increased deployment of advanced AI tools in government, like agentic or generative AI, and legislators try to weigh the potential negative consequences of doing so. Government is also wrestling with the question of whether or not to put any guardrails around the technology. And into this maelstrom of potential AI pros and cons comes a new study from MIT that might just provide a unique new reason to pump the brakes on AI use, at least a little bit.

The study by MIT’s Media Lab tested the cognitive functions of different groups of students divided up according to how much they used AI tools like ChatGPT to accomplish key tasks — such as writing essays — over a period of several months. The study looked to find out how people’s brains responded to using AI tools over time. And according to the study, the answer to that question is: not great. Participants who exclusively used the AI to help write essays showed weaker brain connectivity, lower memory retention and a fading sense of ownership over their work. Basically, their brains got lazy. And even when they stopped using AI tools later on, the effects lingered.

The study involved 54 students from five Boston area universities who were all wired up with Electroencephalography headsets to monitor brainwave activity. After getting a baseline of their thought patterns and brainwaves, they were assigned the task of researching and writing various essays over a period of four months. 

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