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What the Research Says about AI & the Brain
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Are we getting dumber because of AI? 🤖
In this episode of Promptly Speaking, hosts Sara and Dan Roberts explore how generative AI tools like ChatGPT are rewiring our brains. Drawing on new research from MIT, Science Advances, and Harvard Business Review, they unpack how these tools influence creativity, focus, and intrinsic motivation.
You’ll hear how AI can raise productivity while lowering originality, why brain engagement drops when we outsource thinking, and what that means for our ability to learn, create, and stay mentally sharp.
💡 You’ll learn:
- What MIT discovered about how AI impacts neural engagement
- Why using AI can boost quality but reduce creativity
- How to stay mentally active when tools do the “thinking” for you
- The hidden trade-off between efficiency and satisfaction
- Simple strategies to use AI without losing your edge
🔥 Whether you’re an AI optimist or skeptic, this episode offers a grounded look at how to keep your brain — and your creativity — alive in the age of automation.
⏱️ Timestamps
00:28 – Personal experiences with AI in daily life
05:27 – MIT study: how ChatGPT lowers brain engagement
10:51 – Can AI make us more creative—or just more average?
14:53 – The “Google Effect” and how memory changes with technology
16:00 – The productivity paradox: getting more done but caring less
19:08 – Intrinsic motivation and AI fatigue
24:46 – Balancing AI assistance with human intuition
26:32 – Final reflections and takeaways
Follow Sara & Dan:
Sara: linkedin.com/in/saralynneroberts/
Dan: linkedin.com/in/danroberts27
Email: [email protected]
📚 References & Further Reading
1. Sparrow, Liu & Wegner (2011) — Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips. Science.
https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/dwegner/files/sparrow_et_al._2011.pdf
2. MIT Media Lab (2024) — EEG study on neural engagement during essay writing with ChatGPT and Google (reported by Time).
https://time.com/7295195/ai-chatgpt-google-learning-school/
3. Doshi & Hauser (2024) — Generative AI Enhances Individual Creativity but Reduces Collective Diversity. Science Advances.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adn5290
4. Harvard Business Review (2025) — GenAI Makes People More Productive—and Less Motivated.
https://hbr.org/2025/05/research-gen-ai-makes-people-more-productive-and-less-motivated
5. Science (2023) — Experimental Evidence on the Productivity Effects of Generative AI.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh2586
6. Nature Scientific Reports (2025) — Cognitive Offloading in AI-Assisted Work: Impacts on Engagement and Attention.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-98385-2
7. arXiv preprint (2025) — Large Language Models and the Human Mind.
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.08872v1
8. arXiv preprint (2023) — Programming with ChatGPT: Impacts on Developer Speed and Code Quality.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2302.06590
9. Nature Machine Intelligence (2022) — AI-Enabled Peer Support Improves Empathy in Mental Health Conversations.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s42256-022-00593-2
10. Academy of Management Journal (2022) — Augmented Creativity: How AI Tools Help Customer Support Agents Innovate.
https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amj.2022.0426
11. MDPI – Societies Journal (2024) — AI Use and Critical Thinking: Evidence from 666 Participants.
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/15/1/6
12. IE Center for Health & Well-Being (2024) — AI’s Cognitive Implications: The Decline of Our Thinking Skills.
13. Frontiers in AI (2022) — Cognitive Offloading and the Rewiring of Human Thought.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/artificial-intelligence
14. Forbes (Knapp, 2025) — Prototype Study Suggests AI Tools Decrease Critical Thinking Skills.
15. PMC Article (2025) — Technological Overreliance and Cognitive Decline: Lessons from Prior Tech Revolutions.
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