Illustration of a brain connected to AI neural networks

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📚 The Main Study

The study “Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task” (Nataliya Kosmyna et al., MIT Media Lab, June 2025) compared three groups doing SAT-style essay writing:

  • Brain-only (no digital help)
  • Google Search
  • LLM (ChatGPT)

Brain activity was monitored via EEG, and the essays were analyzed. Participants went through three sessions, and in the fourth, the writing method was switched.

Main Results:

  • Less neural activity with AI than with search, and far less than with no tools.
  • Weaker sense of authorship and more difficulty recalling what they’d written.
  • Cumulative reduction in cognitive skills — memory, creativity, critical thinking — called “cognitive debt.”
  • Interestingly, those who started without AI and then switched to it showed higher brain activation than those who always used AI.

🔎 Big Picture: Not Just ChatGPT

It’s not just about ChatGPT. Tools like Gemini (Google AI) or Claude (Anthropic) are advanced LLMs, and across the board:

  • They make tasks easier but
  • They challenge your brain less, leading to the same “cognitive debt.”
  • Google Search forces you to research, filter, and synthesize information — it’s less of an “automatic shortcut” than generative AI.

🧠 Balanced Strategies

Important: The study doesn’t say that AI is bad for learning. It says that passive use (just copying and pasting answers) can make the brain “lazy.”

For those with less education, learning difficulties, or less practice in complex thinking, AI can actually be an accelerator—if used actively:

1. 🎯 Use AI for support, not for writing everything
Ask for ideas, prompts, or outlines, not full texts.
2. ✍️ Write first, then use AI
Start on your own — then polish with help.
3. 💬 Use AI as a critic
Ask for critical analysis, suggestions, questions to expand your thinking.
4. 🔁 Active revision
Rewrite parts in your own words, add your voice and depth.
5. 🧩 Alternate tools
Use AI, search, and “no tool” writing at different stages.

🔧 A Real Workflow Example

  1. Brain-only: Write the initial draft on your own.
  2. Google/Gemini: Research supporting points or counterarguments.
  3. ChatGPT/Gemini: Ask for restructuring suggestions, alternative styles, or questions to prompt deeper thinking.
  4. Your own review: Integrate, add personal examples, and adjust the tone.
  5. Final reflection: Consider what you learned and how your brain was challenged in the process.
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🧭 Conclusion

AI (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) is a fantastic ally — but if you use it passively, you can build up cognitive debt: less effort, less memory, less creativity.
The solution? Conscious AI use, with clear limits, keeping you in control of your thinking, writing, and learning. That way, you use technology to your advantage — and not as a substitute for yourself.

✍️ Study Reference

Title: Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task
Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.08872

Three questions for your readers:

Q1: What techniques do you use to keep your unique voice in your writing, even with AI?

Q2: Have you ever tried a step-by-step approach like the one above?

Q3: Do you think there should be formal training (in schools, companies) about balanced AI use?