Is AI making us stupid through cognitive offloading? New review explores the evidence

A new theoretical review explores whether artificial intelligence is making us stupid. While outsourcing mental tasks to algorithms can erode specific learned skills, scientists suggest our foundational cognitive abilities are resilient. The impact depends on how we use it.

A new theoretical review published in Trends in Cognitive Sciences explores whether relying on artificial intelligence compromises human intelligence. The paper suggests that while outsourcing mental tasks to algorithms can erode specific learned skills, our foundational cognitive abilities are likely more resilient. The impact of these tools largely depends on how people choose to interact with them.

Humans regularly use external tools to reduce the mental effort required to complete tasks. This behavior is known as cognitive offloading. Common examples include using a calculator for arithmetic or relying on a satellite navigation system for directions.

The recent explosion of generative artificial intelligence has brought the concept of cognitive offloading back into the spotlight. Generative artificial intelligence refers to computer programs that can instantly create text, solve problems, or analyze data based on massive amounts of existing information. Because these platforms can synthesize complex ideas in seconds, many worry that human intellect will suffer.

Trent N. Cash, Megan O. Kelly, Brooke N. Macnamara, and Evan F. Risko authored the new review to untangle the nuanced ways these programs affect the human mind. They separate human cognition into two distinct categories to better understand the risks. The first category includes specific skills, which are learned behaviors improved through practice, like flying an airplane or solving algebra.

The second category involves basic cognitive abilities, which are foundational mental capacities, like working memory and attention. Losing Skills Through Lack of Practice When people offload their thinking to an automated tool, they skip the practice required to acquire and maintain specific skills. Cash and his colleagues argue that bypassing this necessary mental friction almost certainly compromises skill development.

Without regular practice, acquired skills tend to decay because the brain loses the defense against forgetting. For example, physicians might lose their diagnostic sharpness if they overly rely on an automated imaging system without reviewing the underlying data. This concept was recently demonstrated in a high school mathematics experiment in Turkey.

Students were divided into groups and asked to complete practice problems using either their own knowledge, an unrestricted chatbot, or a highly guarded chatbot designed to act as a tutor. Students who used the unrestricted artificial intelligence scored high on the practice round but performed worse on a subsequent independent exam compared to peers who used no technology at all. The unrestricted software provided direct answers, which allowed students to bypass the productive struggle needed to understand the material.

“The effects are non-trivial and move in opposite directions depending on what you measure,” Alp Sungu, a co-