MIT Study Finds Chatgpt May Harm Critical Thinking Skills

MIT Study Finds Chatgpt May Harm Critical Thinking Skills

In early June 2025, researchers at MIT’s Media Lab quietly dropped a bombshell preprint titled “Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt…” (albertoromgar.medium.com, media.mit.edu). Their controlled experiment with 54 college-aged participants — measured via EEG during essay writing — has ignited new debates on generative AI’s impact on cognition and learning. 

What the Study Did?

  • Three groups, three writing sessions:

    1. Brain-only – wrote without any assistance

    2. Google users – used web search

    3. LLM users – wrote with ChatGPT’s help
      (media.mit.edu, economictimes.indiatimes.com)

  • Session 4 involved tool-switching: LLM→Brain-only and Brain-only→LLM paths. (media.mit.edu)

  • Methods: EEG measured real-time brain connectivity, essays assessed via NLP, teachers, and an AI judge. (media.mit.edu)

Key Findings

  1. Diminished neural engagement ✨

    • Brain-only authors displayed strongest EEG connectivity across frontal-parietal networks, tied to creativity and memory.

    • Google users ranked in the middle.

    • ChatGPT users showed the least brain activity, up to a 55% reduction in dDTF connectivity. (media.mit.edu, theregister.com, m.economictimes.com)

  2. Cognitive offloading & passivity

    • ChatGPT users increasingly relied on copy-and-paste. By session 3, many simply input the prompt, reviewed output, and were done.

    • They struggled to recall or quote their own writing, reporting minimal sense of ownership. (thetimes.co.uk)

  3. Language quality & critique decline

    • Essays from the LLM group were more formulaic, homogeneous, and perceived by evaluators as “soulless.” (thetimes.co.uk)

    • Google users performed better but still lagged behind Brain-only peers in critical engagement.

  4. Switching tools matters

    • Participants who began unaided then used ChatGPT exhibited higher connectivity and memory recall — a hybrid “scaffolded” path that seemed beneficial. (edtechinnovationhub.com)

    • But going from LLM‑to‑Brain didn’t immediately restore their engagement — underlining the lingering cognitive debt.

Implications: What Does It All Mean?

Benefit Risk
✅ Efficiency & convenience ⚠️ Cognitive atrophy – diminished critical thinking, memory, deeper learning
✅ Supports scaffolding – when used after thoughtful effort ⚠️ Dependency risk – habit-building reliance when started early
✅ Tool-assisted learning ⚠️ Copy-paste tendency – less personal reflection, ownership, nuance

Lead researcher Nataliya Kosmyna warns that while generative AI offers shortcuts, it carries “cognitive cost” — reducing engagement in memory, planning, and evaluation (media.mit.edu, edtechinnovationhub.com, arxiv.org, time.com). Though not peer-reviewed yet, it raises pressing concerns for classrooms already integrating AI.

A Balanced Approach

Experts emphasize moderation and strategy:

  • Use ChatGPT after you’ve tried writing independently — then refine or brainstorm with AI.

  • Resist letting it generate content wholesale; engage actively with AI outputs.

  • Educators should teach prompt strategies, critical analysis of AI answers, and help students maintain ownership of their work.

A Cambridge researcher cautioned:

“AI could foster a kind of ‘laziness’ … but context matters — tutor use boosts, tool-as-crutch diminishes.” (thetimes.co.uk)

Final Thoughts

MIT’s study sends a powerful signal: our brains are sensitive to how we engage with AI. The effortless—but passive—support of ChatGPT can dull creativity, memory, and intellectual ownership. But when used thoughtfully, it can enhance learning.

As conversation turns to AI’s role in academia, this research reminds us: balance matters. Tech should amplify thinking, not substitute for it.

For Further Reading

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