On Point | Podcast Does using AI dumb you down?
23 snips
Aug 11, 2025 Natalia Kosmina, a Senior researcher at the MIT Media Lab and co-author of Your Brain on ChatGPT, joins Barry Gordon, Director of the Cognitive Neurology division at Johns Hopkins University. They discuss the cognitive impacts of AI writing tools, revealing how they may create 'cognitive debt' and influence critical thinking skills. The duo also explores the differences in brain activity between handwriting and typing, emphasizing the mental effort required for learning. Overall, they examine how AI may homogenize writing styles and alter cognitive processes in students.
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Socrates' Warning On Writing
- Socrates warned writing could harm memory and attention.
- Meghna Chakrabarti summarizes that Socrates thought writing "would make people lazy, forgetful, and inattentive."
Controlled Study With 54 Student Writers
- Natalia Kosmina ran an in-lab essay study with 54 students split into ChatGPT, Google, and brain-only groups.
- The team recorded EEG during 20-minute essays and had teachers score the outputs.
AI Use Reduces Brain Connectivity
- Natalia found brain-only writers showed the most widespread brain connectivity while ChatGPT users showed the least connectivity.
- Reduced connectivity affected regions tied to creative thinking, episodic memory, and language.
