Overview

• A four-month MIT study with 54 participants found those who used ChatGPT to draft essays exhibited the weakest neural connectivity and lower recall compared with search engine and brain-only groups.
• Participants who switched from AI to brain-only tasks accumulated “cognitive debt” and underperformed in engagement and recall on their first unaided essay.
• Researchers caution that the final session’s small sample size of 18 may limit the generalizability of the findings and call for further testing.
• Experts draw parallels to calculators and warn that unchanged assessments risk fostering “metacognitive laziness” if AI use isn’t integrated into more complex learning tasks.
• AI leaders and educators emphasize using tools like ChatGPT as an efficiency aid after mastering fundamental skills to maintain critical thinking in education.