A new study from researchers at MIT’s Media Lab reveals that ChatGPT may be chipping away at our cognitive abilities. The study focused on ChatGPT effects on the brain and, in particular, our ability to engage with critical thinking and memory recall. ChatGPT is a language learning model (LLM) developed by OpenAI and launched to the public in 2022. Since its release, ChatGPT has received overwhelming appraisal but equally as much backlash for its services.
An alarming 89% of students admit to using ChatGPT to do their homework with limited understanding of ChatGPT’s effects on the brain. There have been suspicions of AI and LLMs dulling our ability to critically engage with learning, especially within younger users. This new study seems to turn these suspicions into tangible realities. The research discovered that using ChatGPT did have a negative impact on brain regions associated with memory and learning.
ChatGPT Users Show “Lowest Brain Engagement” in MIT EEG Study
For their study, researchers at MIT’s Media Lab split 54 participants in 3 groups. The participants were the ages of 18 to 39 and came from the Boston area. They were tasked with writing several SAT essays using ChatGPT, Google’s search engine and no AI or search assistants. The essays were written in 20 minute intervals.
Researchers discovered that of the 3 groups, ChatGPT users underperformed and showed the lowest levels of brain engagement. Over the next subsequent months, ChatGPT users became less inclined to engage with the essay tasks. They eventually resorted to copying ChatGPT’s responses to their prompts, verbatim.
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EEG Methodology: 32-Region Brain Monitoring During SAT Essays
Researchers conducted the test by recording the participants’ brain activity across 32 regions using an electroencephalogram (EEG). They gave participants essays based on SAT prompts and recorded their brain activity while they performed the tasks. ChatGPT users “consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.”
This study revealed that using ChatGPT showed reduced brain activity in regions linked to critical thinking and memory recall. This suggests that LLM’s could potentially be detrimental to learning, especially in younger, developing users. LLM’s seem to take the load of thinking for users, bypassing the deep memory processes in the brain.
ChatGPT Group’s “Soulless” Essays
Study lead author Nataliya Kosmyna explained to Time that their group was exploring the impacts of AI tools on schoolwork. The group had 2 English teachers to assess the essays from participants. They described the essays written by the group using ChatGPT as “soulless.” Their evaluation found the group wrote essays that were unimaginative, extremely similar in context and relied on similar ideas and concepts. The EEG showed those who used ChatGPT had low executive control and attention deficits. Kosmyna lamented that by the third essay, ChatGPT users were letting ChatGPT do all the work. “It was more like, ‘just give me the essay, refine this sentence, edit it, and I’m done,’” she said to Time.
Brain-Only Group’s Performance
Conversely, the brain-only group, where participants only rely on their own thinking demonstrated the highest neural connectivity and activity. They find particular heightened activity especially in alpha, delta and theta bands. These bands are linked to presenting creative ideas, memory load and semantics processing. This group showed greater satisfaction with their essays, claimed ownership and expressed greater curiosity and intrigue than the other groups.
Google Search Outperforms ChatGPT
The third group, which used search engine tools like Google Search also expressed high satisfaction with their work. Their brain function showed similar activity to what was recorded in the brain-only group. This group also highlights the significant difference between AI chatbots and search engines like Google Search. Many users also now rely on AI over Google Search. Kosmyna’s team stressed this causes cognitive decline, currently affecting ChatGPT users and especially children.
ChatGPT Users Fail Rewrite Without AI
Once each group had written the 3 essays, they were tasked to rewrite one of their previous essays. However, the ChatGPT group had to rewrite without LLMs while the brain-only group had access to ChatGPT. ChatGPT group’s alpha and theta brain waves presented minimal activity, indicating the bypass of the deep memory processes. They remembered little of their work and could not adequately recall their essays.
Kosmyna’s Urgent Warning: “Developing Brains at Highest Risk” from AI
The MIT paper has not yet been peer-reviewed. Kosmyna’s team felt urgency around AI and children’s cognitive development could not wait for review and published their findings. She explained that the lengthy 6-8 month review process is too slow and policymakers might introduce a “GPT kindergarten” in that time. “Education on how we use these tools, and promoting the fact that your brain does need to develop in a more analog way, is absolutely critical,” Kosmyna said to Time.
Dr. Zishan Khan, a psychiatrist who treats children and adolescents confirms Kosmyna’s concern as he sees many children depend on AI to do their schoolwork. He believes that this overreliance on AI could create long-term psychological and cognitive issues. This is especially worrisome for those who are still developing. “These neural connections that help you in accessing information, the memory of facts, and the ability to be resilient: all that is going to weaken.”
Conclusion
Given that students extensively use ChatGPT for core academic tasks like writing and brainstorming, the MIT findings raise alarm bells. This educational reliance directly threatens developing minds and critical thinking abilities. In February 2025, OpenAI released a report. The report revealed that over one-quarter of college students’ prompts to ChatGPT related to education. Scientific studies on AI’s wider impact remain in their infancy. Experts caution that these technologies should not understate risks to our cognitive abilities . Exercise your brain, your memory might be dependent on it.
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