Does AI Make Us Dumber?

Your brain is like a muscle. Stop using it, and it atrophies. Unlike your biceps though, you can't just hit the gym for a month and get your cognitive flexibility back.

A 2025 MIT Media Lab study put this to the test. Students who exclusively used ChatGPT to write essays showed measurably weaker brain connectivity over four months…and 83% couldn't recall key points from their own work just minutes later. Their brains were literally doing less work, and the effects lingered even after they stopped using AI.

That's not a hypothetical risk. That's a real warning sign.

The Trap Is Subtle

This isn't just a student problem. A Carnegie Mellon and Microsoft study surveyed knowledge workers and found a striking pattern: the more confidence someone had in AI's ability to handle a task, the less critical thinking they applied. For 40% of reported tasks, workers said they used no critical thinking at all.

The more you trust AI, the less you think. That's not a productivity gain: it’s cognitive debt. Easy to accumulate, devastatingly hard to pay off.

How I Actually Use AI

So how do you get the benefits without the brain rot? There's no single playbook, but here's what works for me:

• Brainstorming: I frame the problem, a direction, a half-baked idea. AI expands the possibility space. It's not generating my strategy; it's helping me see angles I might have missed.

• Structuring plans: I outline the gist of what I want to accomplish, then use AI to stress-test the structure. Is this ordered logically? Am I missing a step? It's like having a second set of eyes that never gets tired.

• Challenging my thinking: This is the big one. I explicitly ask for pushback. What's wrong with this approach? Where are the holes in this argument? I want the uncomfortable questions before a customer or investor asks them.

• Production work: Code generation, document formatting, image creation (I'm not a graphic designer, and I don't need to be). AI handles the execution so I can focus on the thinking behind it.

The through-line: I'm in the driver's seat. AI is my GPS, and occasionally the lane-assist kicks in when I start to drift. But I'm the one deciding where we're going.

The Real Superpower: Clarity of Thought

Adam Grant made a point that resonated with me: AI can be an incredible thought partner, but only if you use it that way. The data backs this up. A BCG, Harvard, and Wharton study found that consultants with AI access completed 12% more tasks, 25% faster, and produced results rated 40% higher by their managers. Not because AI did their thinking, but because it sharpened it.

Here's the key though: you have to turn down AI's sycophantic tendencies. When you force it to challenge you rather than validate you, something powerful happens. It holds up a mirror to your reasoning: the gaps, the biases, the lazy shortcuts all become visible. And the best part? It won't laugh at you.

Collaboration, not complete delegation.

The Takeaway

If AI does your thinking, there may come a point when you lose the ability to do it yourself. But if AI tests your thinking (stands as a debate partner, a design partner, a thought partner) then you don't just maintain your edge. You sharpen it.

This is the philosophy behind what we're building at Attrove. Give people superpowers, not crutches. Remove the burden of mundane coordination so you can focus on the work that actually requires you.

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