Are We Living in a Golden Age of Stupidity? The Cognitive Impact of AI and Digital Convenience
In recent years, the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies has transformed how we live, work, and think. But is this technological progress coming at a cognitive cost? A growing body of research, including a provocative new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), raises alarming questions about whether our increasing reliance on AI tools like ChatGPT may be eroding our ability to think independently, remember information, and engage deeply with knowledge.
Insights from MIT’s Media Lab: Watching Our Brains Under Technology’s Influence
At the cutting-edge MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts, researchers are exploring the frontiers of AI and brain-computer interfaces. Among them, Nataliya Kosmyna, a research scientist focused on wearable technology that monitors brain states, has encountered a surprising phenomenon. After the introduction and widespread adoption of large language models such as ChatGPT, Kosmyna began receiving unsolicited emails from people reporting changes in their cognitive abilities—particularly memory.
Curious, Kosmyna and her colleagues designed an experiment to directly observe how different types of writing assistance affect brain activity. Using electroencephalograms (EEGs), they monitored participants’ brain connectivity as they wrote essays in three scenarios: unaided, aided by an internet search engine, and aided by ChatGPT. The results were striking: those who used ChatGPT showed significantly lower brain activity in regions responsible for cognitive processing, attention, and creativity.
Moreover, participants who wrote with ChatGPT struggled to recall what they had written moments after completing their essays. “Barely anyone in the ChatGPT group could give a quote,” Kosmyna said. This suggests that external assistance from AI might bypass key learning and memory processes, leaving users with superficial engagement with content.
The Dilemma of Convenience and Cognitive Friction
Kosmyna points to a fundamental tension: while our brains seek shortcuts and avoid cognitive friction, learning and creativity require challenge—effortful mental engagement. Modern technology is designed to create a “frictionless” user experience, eliminating barriers so users can swiftly navigate apps and services. While this seamless convenience accelerates productivity, it risks reducing opportunities for the mental effort necessary to solidify knowledge and develop critical thinking skills.
This phenomenon mirrors concerns expressed by education expert Daisy Christodoulou, who coined the term “stupidogenic society.” In such a society, just as an obesogenic environment promotes unhealthy eating habits, digital convenience fosters intellectual laziness by letting machines “think for you.”
Broader Educational and Cognitive Trends Raise Alarm
This concern extends beyond the lab. Across many developed countries, long-term data reveal troubling trends. The OECD’s PISA assessments of 15-year-olds’ reading, math, and science skills peaked around 2012 but have since faltered. Meanwhile, average IQ scores—once rising steadily throughout the 20th century—show signs of decline in several nations.
Teachers and educators worldwide voice growing anxieties that students increasingly use AI tools to complete assignments without truly understanding the material, resulting in work that superficially meets requirements but lacks deep knowledge. Kosmyna has received thousands of messages from teachers worried about the impact of AI-enabled shortcuts on learning.
Balancing Technological Benefits with Cognitive Health
The dilemma is not new. Historical skeptics such as Socrates feared that writing would weaken memory and wisdom, yet writing, the printing press, and the internet ultimately democratized knowledge and fueled intellectual progress. Similarly, AI holds enormous promise for accessibility, creativity, and problem-solving.
But unlike past technologies, AI’s capacity to generate plausible text and answers effortlessly challenges the very act of thinking itself. The risk is that as dependence grows, individuals become passive “users” rather than active thinkers, surrendering their cognitive autonomy to software.
Preparing for an AI-Infused Future
As AI tools continue to integrate into education, work, and daily life, understanding their psychological and cognitive costs is urgent. Policymakers, educators, and technologists must investigate and address how to preserve critical thinking, memory, and intellectual independence in an increasingly automated world.
“We need friction to learn,” Kosmyna emphasizes. “Our brains need challenges.” Creating environments—both digital and real—that encourage active learning, skepticism, and reflective thought will be essential to ensuring that the era of AI-driven convenience does not become an age of collective cognitive decline.
As we navigate this new technological landscape, the question remains: How do we harness AI’s benefits without diminishing the very human qualities that make creativity, wisdom, and independent thought possible? The answer may determine whether future generations experience a golden age of innovation or stagnation.
