S1E57: How Gen AI like ChatGPT enhances critical thinking, instead of making us lazy

Aug 12, 2025

Guest

ChatGPT

Shahrman Nayan, a creative director at OneDash22, and Cheryl Chia, founder of BrainFit, tackle the intriguing relationship between generative AI and critical thinking. They discuss a recent MIT study revealing how AI usage can both enhance creativity and hinder cognitive engagement. Shahrman shares his experiences using Gen AI for video projects, while Cheryl emphasizes fostering foundational skills in education. The conversation explores balancing AI benefits with the need for independent problem-solving, making a case for AI as a supportive tool rather than a crutch.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

AI Frees Time But Risks Mental Atrophy

AI can free people from repetitive tasks so they focus on deeper work.
But convenience risks weakening mental effort and intrinsic motivation.

ADVICE

Use AI To Refine, Not Replace First Drafts

Use ChatGPT after doing initial work yourself to boost brain connectivity and refinement.
Treat AI as a second-step editor, not the originator of ideas.

ADVICE

Probe AI With Stepwise Follow-Ups

Use ChatGPT deliberately to break problems down step-by-step when you don't understand them.
Ask follow-ups until explanations are clear rather than accepting answers at face value.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

We even invite ChatGPT to be a 'guest' in this episode with our host and two human guests.

Synopsis: Every second Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times takes a hard look at Singapore's social issues of the day with guests.

Preliminary findings from a recent MIT study in June in the US, concluded that people using just generative AI (Gen AI) tools such as ChatGPT, became lazier with each subsequent essay they wrote.

The study, conducted in Boston, categorised three groups of test subjects aged 18 to 39 according to the tools that they used: ChatGPT, Google or no tools.

The brain activity of these writers were scanned across 32 regions of their brain. The result found that ChatGPT users had the lowest brain activity, and “consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioural levels,” according to the study.

But the way ChatGPT is used was critical, as the study found that test subjects who used ChatGPT only after writing the essays on their own, had significant increases in brain connectivity.

Just how can ChatGPT be used to enhance productivity without making us lazy? In this episode, ST assistant podcast editor Lynda Hong unpacks the issues and looks at how her human guests maintain the balance between optimising the use of ChatGPT and becoming over-reliant on it.

Her guests are Shahrman Nayan, creative director of OneDash22, a local video production company and an avid user of Gen AI for his work; and Cheryl Chia, founder of BrainFit, an education centre for children and young adults, building their cognitive, thinking, and study skills through programmes grounded in scientific approaches.

We also invite ChatGPT to be a 'guest' in this podcast discussion.

Highlights (click/tap above):

6:00 How can youths use ChatGPT without becoming lazy

13:14 "I can make people lazier if they use me to avoid thinking critically": ChatGPT

15:21 Cognitive functions like memory and concentration have been going down: Cheryl

29:04 How young people can use Gen AI to improve critical thinking

37:03 How Shahrman uses Gen AI like ChatGPT to get his colleagues to produce creative work

Host: Lynda Hong (lyndahong@sph.com.sg)

Produced and edited by: Hadyu Rahim, Rebekah Chia and Natasha Liew

Executive producers: Ernest Luis & Lynda Hong

Follow In Your Opinion Podcast here and get notified for new episode drops:

Channel: https://str.sg/w7Qt