Will AI make us stupid?
How overreliance on AI could erode our critical thinking and memory
In the early days of the internet, the shriek of my dial-up connection felt like a secret handshake into an exclusive club. Fast forward *cough* years and I ask AI to do everything from summarizing long reports to writing emails for me. Sometimes, I can’t help but wonder if this convenience is melting my mind. According to a study by published in the journal Societies earlier this month, people who use AI tools daily scored significantly lower on tests of recall and critical thinking than those who didn’t.
First off, what’s cognitive offloading?
Cognitive offloading is a natural practice where we use external tools to lighten our mental load. It's why kids count on their fingers or adults jot down grocery lists. For instance, smartphones have become our external memory banks, storing birthdays, passwords, and those aforementioned grocery lists. The problem arises when we overdo it. The more we rely on these aids, the less we remember on our own.
The rise of “digital dementia”
While cognitive offloading can ease mental strain, excessive reliance on digital tools may have unintended consequences. Researchers have dubbed this phenomenon digital dementia to describe technology’s impact on brain function. While not officially recognized as a medical condition, digital dementia highlights some troubling trends:
Deterioration of brain function
Symptoms that mirror dementia (memory lapses, reduced attention span, decreased cognitive abilities) when we overuse digital devices like smartphones and computers
Possible long-term effects on brain development, especially in kids and teens
When tasks like navigation, scheduling, or even bedtime stories are outsourced to apps, our brains—like unused muscles—start to weaken. Over time, relying too heavily on digital tools erodes our ability to recall, focus, and navigate independently.
Too much cognitive offloading, over years, could end up looking like digital dementia: a real decline in how well we process and remember information. If our entire mental workload is forever outsourced to devices, the boundaries between “smart strategy” and “mental laziness” get blurry.
The bright side: can AI sharpen our minds?
When used wisely, AI has the potential to enhance human cognition. Personalized AI tutors can adapt to individual learning styles, while scientists can use AI to process vast datasets and accelerate breakthroughs in fields like Alzheimer’s research.
Some experts even call AI a “cognitive development catalyst,” suggesting that blending human intuition with machine precision could unlock new levels of problem-solving. But that doesn’t let us off the hook for personal accountability. If you delegate all your thinking—big or small—to AI, you risk cognitive decline.
Protect your brain in the digital age
The good news? Neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to adapt and recover—means we can reverse some of the effects of digital dementia. But reclaiming mental sharpness requires effort.
Balance is the key. If you ask an AI to summarize your morning news, try reading a full article later or challenging yourself with a puzzle. Here are some more tips on how to stay sharp:
Use AI in moderation: Before asking a bot for help, give your own logic a shot. Brains flourish with daily mini-challenges.
Schedule digital detox periods: Pick one day a month—or an hour a week—to mute those notifications and just be. It might feel strange initially, but your concentration could thank you.
Challenge yourself offline: Jigsaw puzzles, picking up a guitar, or cracking open a paper book (yes, they still exist) can boost focus and mental resilience in ways mindless scrolling won’t.
Mix AI with human collaboration: Feeling stuck on a project? Chat with a coworker or friend before popping open ChatGPT. Real-life conversations often spark epiphanies faster than an algorithm.
The jury’s still out
The long-term effects of technology on our cognitive abilities are still unclear. But I think that whether AI enriches us or erodes us depends on how we weave it into daily life. Ultimately, it’s up to us to decide how we let AI shape our mental landscape. By staying curious, choosing when to offload (and when not to), and carving out space for genuine thought, we can make sure AI remains our wingman, not our replacement.
Biweekly disruptions
Google’s ‘Daily Listen’ lab is a personalized podcast based on your Discover feed (9to5google) Daily Listen takes your interests into account to create a 5 minute or so episode that provides an overview of stories and topics that you follow.
Filing claims that Mark Zuckerberg gave Meta’s Llama team the OK to train on copyrighted works (TechCrunch) Counsel for plaintiffs in a copyright lawsuit filed against Meta allege that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave the green light to the team behind the company’s Llama AI models to use a dataset of pirated e-books and articles for training.
Nvidia announces $3,000 personal AI supercomputer called Digits (The Verge) The chipmaker announced at CES that it’s launching a personal AI supercomputer called Project Digits in May.
Prophecies of the flood (One Useful Thing) As we inch closer to AGI, Ethan Mollick asks if we’re in any way prepared for what lies ahead in artificial intelligence. (Spoiler: No.)
Help train this newsletter's neural networks with caffeine! ⚡️ Buy me a coffee to keep the AI insights coming. ☕️
Yes.