Overview

• The MIT researchers asked 54 volunteers to write essays under three conditions—using ChatGPT, Google Search or unaided—and recorded their neural activity through EEG monitoring.
• Participants relying on ChatGPT exhibited significantly reduced theta brainwaves, scored lower on memory recall and produced similarly structured essays that lacked originality.
• Nataliya Kosmyna released the pre-peer review findings to highlight the risk that early and frequent AI dependence could cause long-term atrophy of critical thinking skills.
• Writers using search engines maintained neural engagement and recall levels comparable to unaided participants, underscoring a distinct cognitive effect of AI chatbots.
• The research team is now examining AI’s impact on programming tasks and reports preliminary results showing even greater declines in neural engagement and problem-solving.