ChatGPT may affect your critical thinking skills, study finds – ConsumerAffairs
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MIT researchers studied how using ChatGPT affects brain activity during writing tasks, comparing it to writing unaided and using a search engine.
Participants who used ChatGPT showed significantly less brain engagement, especially in areas tied to creativity and memory.
Those who relied on AI struggled with recalling what they wrote and felt less ownership over their work, suggesting that AI use may reduce cognitive involvement in learning.
MIT’s Media Lab launched a project called “Your Brain on ChatGPT,” aimed at exploring the cognitive impact of relying on large language models (LLMs) — like ChatGPT— when writing essays.
The researchers wanted to understand whether using AI in educational settings affects how deeply and creatively people think, learn, and remember.
The researchers recruited 54 participants and divided them into three groups:
Brain-only: participants wrote essays using only their own mind, with no external tools;
Search Engine: participants used Google to look up information;
LLM group: participants used ChatGPT for essay writing.
Each participant wrote essays in three sessions under their assigned condition. In a fourth session, some were reassigned: those who had used ChatGPT switched to writing unaided (called “LLM‑to‑Brain”), while some who started brain-only used the LLM (“Brain‑to‑LLM”) .
During writing, everyone wore EEG headsets to measure brain activity—especially neural connectivity patterns and engagement in various brain regions.
The essays were scored by both human teachers and an AI judge. Participants were interviewed after each session about how much they felt they owned their writing.
Overall, cognitive engagement declined as external support increased.
The Brain‑only group showed the strongest and most distributed neural networks. The Search Engine group showed moderate engagement, while the LLM group had the weakest connectivity—indicating less brain activity, particularly in creative and memory-related parts of the brain.
The ChatGPT users also reported low ownership of their essays and struggled to quote or recall what they had just written.
In the fourth session, participants previously using ChatGPT and then writing unaided showed continued weaker connectivity and under-engagement. Conversely, those who began without tools and later used ChatGPT showed improved memory recall and brain activation patterns more like the Search Engine group.
It’s important to note that this study doesn’t claim ChatGPT harms your brain. However, it does raise thought-provoking questions about how mixing AI into education might subtly change the way we engage, learn, and remember.
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Kristen Dalli is a New York native and recent graduate of Marist College. She has worked as a writer and editor for several different companies and publications, including Thought Catalog, The Oddysey, Thomas Greco Publishing, and several travel blogs.
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