Does AI make you dumber?

Ever since ChatGPT came onto the scene in 2022, it’s become clear that AI is here to stay. AI has impacted the way students perform in school, how we work, and even our relationships. 

It even impacts how we gather information. Instead of using traditional search engines, we often turn to ChatGPT for answers.

But can we use artificial intelligence (AI) too much? And is using AI making us dumber?

Here’s what the experts have to say.

Does AI make you stupid?

While using AI might not directly make us stupider, it can make us lazy–which, in turn, can make us stupid.

A 2025 MIT study found that there’s a correlation between using language learning models (LLMs) and “a direct cognitive cost, particularly when it comes to our ability to think critically,” according to Psychology Today.

Researchers divided 54 participants into three groups, all asked to write an SAT-level essay: one group was allowed to use ChatGPT, the second that used Google, and the third, called the “brain-only” group, wasn’t allowed to use any resources.

Every participant had to write multiple essays and “each time was attached to an EEG to record brain activity across 32 regions.” The group with the “lowest brain engagement” for each essay was, unsurprisingly, the ChatGPT group.

But, more interestingly, their brain activity decreased over time. With each essay, the ChatGPT group became lazier. By the end of the study, most participants in that group simply copy and pasted their essays right out of ChatGPT.

When participants in the ChatGPT group were asked to reproduce one of their essays from memory, without any tools or assistance, they couldn’t remember most of their essay.

On the other hand, the “brain-only” group reported higher levels of curiosity, creativity, satisfaction, and memory. When they were allowed to rewrite one of their essays while using ChatGPT, “their efforts (showed) higher levels of creativity and stronger arguments, while retaining original thinking and unique language.”

Researchers wrote, “Just as relying on a GPS dulls our sense of direction, relying on AI to write and reason can dull our ability to do those very things ourselves. That’s a debt that compounds over time.”

Negative impact of AI on critical thinking

Based on the above study, it’s probably unsurprising that over-reliance on AI does negatively impact critical thinking abilities.

Another study found that high confidence in generative AI results in less critical thinking—and less overall effort. 

According to researchers, workers traditionally applied critical thinking to:

• Information gathering
• Problem solving
• Task execution

But when workers use AI tools, those tasks turn into:

• Information verification
• AI response integration
• Task stewardship

Those tasks can require critical thinking, but over-reliance on, and high-confidence in, AI can significantly reduce critical thinking out of workers’ everyday tasks.

The study identified three major risks:

1. Over-reliance on AI. Some study participants reported some instances where “critical thinking was unnecessary because their use of GenAI tool is secondary to their goals.” Workers can “adopt a mental model that assumes AI is competent for simple tasks.”
2. Skill atrophy. Because using AI reduces practice in common and foundational skills, “cognitive abilities can deteriorate over time.”
3. New skill and cognitive demands. Instead of executing tasks themselves, workers who over-rely on AI “move from task execution to oversight.”

Researchers wrote that “while GenAI can improve worker efficiency, it can inhibit critical engagement with work and can potentially lead to long-term overreliance on the tool and diminished skill for independent problem-solving.”

They continued, “Higher confidence in GenAI’s ability to perform a task is related to less critical thinking effort.”

Negative effects of AI on the brain

Beyond AI’s ability to make critical thinking worse, it does have other effects on our brains. According to Healthline, a 2024 research review found that “increased dependency” on AI can:

• Lead to shortened attention spans and problems focusing.
• Neglect, and decline, the use of cognitive skills.
• Negatively impact memory skills.
• Lead to mental health issues, such as low self-confidence.
• Cause “inability to apply knowledge to new situations.”

The study notes that there might be “ethical and social concerns” with using too much AI, like “decreased human-to-human interaction and social isolation.”

Is AI making us lazy?

Yes and no. It all depends on how you use it.

AI should be complementary, not supplementary. Using it to assist in a few menial tasks can be helpful—but when you start to use it for more important tasks, or when you use it too often, it can be a problem in the long-term.

How do you feel about using AI tools? How often do you use AI? And what for? Do you let your kids use AI? Let us know in the comments!