How to Course Correct What AI Has Done to Our Brains
The headline of a recent edition of The Guardian said, “Don’t ask what AI can do for us, ask what it is doing to us.” It was a scathing report on how artificial intelligence has reduced our cognitive abilities. We can already see the downside to this marvelous invention.
Consider this statement.
AI will always be smarter than you are, but AI will never be wiser than you are, if you continue to grow socially and emotionally. The human element we bring to our world can only be imitated by a robot. People are savvy to their AI devices—but so far, it’s made our brains weaker. M.I.T. just completed a study to find out what AI is doing to students’ brains. Three groups of 54 people were asked to write an essay. One group used ChatGPT, another group used search engines, and the third group wrote the essay entirely on their own. The study found that those who didn’t use AI showed the strongest brain connectivity. Those who used ChatGPT showed the weakest neural engagement. The biggest shock, however, came afterward. Those who used AI couldn’t remember a single sentence of the essay they’d written moments earlier. What’s more, ChatGPT users were then asked to write an essay on their own, and their brains continued to stay disengaged. Researchers called this effect “cognitive debt.” When we use AI poorly, we pay a price. The goal, of course, is not to stop using AI. It’s to use AI to strengthen our brains, not weaken them.
Here Are My Mixed Reviews of Artificial Intelligence
I’m troubled about what it is doing to employees.
A Harvard survey of Americans between 18 and 29 showed that nearly 60% said they saw AI as a threat to their job prospects, with college graduates feeling most vulnerable. Further, 41% said they thought that AI would make work less meaningful. Many college students drop out of college and are now in a trade school studying to be blue-collar workers. Enrollment at vocational community colleges has boomed in recent years. I’m all for adapting, but career choices should be prompted by passion and talent, not fear.
I love how it can save us time.
AI has saved me hours finding repetition in my last manuscript, improving my discussion questions at the end of a chapter, and correcting footnotes. It has saved workers countless hours on tasks that used to be done by their own ingenuity. Like the calculator that came out decades ago, it can speed up the process and free up more time for things that only we can do. People feared calculators would reduce our skills to compute math equations (and it likely did!), but we now realize we can use our brains for better pursuits.
I hate what it will do to consumers.
Hackers are using AI to build more convincing phishing emails, automate attacks, and slip through outdated defenses—and we are prime targets. People are still getting acquainted with what is real and what is AI-generated, in films, ads, and marketing strategies. No one likes to feel duped. Elon Musk has sued OpenAI for their infringement on his work, and Taylor Swift is trademarking her likeness and image to fend off Deepfakes. AI is making us a skeptical set of consumers, which also makes us cynical people in general.
I delight in what it has the potential to do.
I believe artificial intelligence will make us better leaders and even better people if we utilize it well. We can either become lazy, acting like robots ourselves, disengaged emotionally at work or school, or we can play the human card we have in our hands. This is our chance to do what only we can do—make personal and emotional connections with others. I continue to say in conferences: “As artificial intelligence plays larger roles at work, emotional intelligence must play a larger role in our lives as workers.”
I am concerned with what it’s done to our minds.
As I watch kids and adults, I see how we’re prone to interact with AI. So far, my experience tells me that AI is eroding our critical thinking. Critical thinking begins with asking the right questions. People, especially young people, are not engaging OpenAI to ask meaningful, philosophical or existential questions—but rather, to get quick solutions. I don’t see us reflecting as well. We avoid boredom or deep thinking because we want the answer quickly.
“The greatest worry in these times of generative AI is not that it may compromise human creativity or intelligence,” says Cornell psychologist Robert Sternberg, “but that it already has.” Michael Gerlich, at Swiss Business School, tested 666 people in the UK and found a huge correlation between frequent AI use and lower critical-thinking skills. Researcher James Flynn has shown how each generation since 1930 has increased in IQ. We call it, “The Flynn Effect.” In recent decades, however, the Flynn effect has slowed or even reversed. So far, Generation Z appears to have a lower IQ than their parents’ generation. Our work is cut out for us.
Course Correction: What Sets Us Apart
AI is amazing, but it has fundamental limits that make it unsuitable for certain human tasks. Below are some of the best conclusions on what separates AI from us. These items should be our focus for growth and our guide for course correction.
1. Emotional intelligence and empathy
A Forbes report says humans can understand and respond to complex emotions, cultural context, and interpersonal dynamics in ways AI cannot. AI can simulate empathy, but it lacks real feelings, perspective-taking, and the ability to form deep, trusting relationships. Family/Team Idea: find and serve someone in need, to deepen your mercy and compassion.
2. Ethical judgment and moral reasoning
In The Conversation I read: AI can follow programmed rules, but can’t weigh competing moral values, anticipate unintended consequences, or make decisions based on evolving ethical norms. This is critical in fields like healthcare, law, and governance. Family/Team Idea: choose a topic that’s a gray area and stage a friendly debate on what’s most moral.
3. Contextual understanding and critical thinking
Psychology Today reminds us that humans can interpret ambiguous situations, adapt to unstructured environments, and apply wisdom from personal and cultural experience. AI struggles with real-world complexity and scenarios it hasn’t been trained to use. Family/Team Idea: Find a news story with multiple angles and discuss how to lead in that context.
4. True innovation and originality
AI excels at combining existing ideas and generating plausible outputs, but it cannot invent something entirely new. Studies show AI-assisted creative work can improve surface quality but often reduces originality, reinforcing familiar patterns rather than breaking new ground, according to a Forbes report. Family/Team Idea: find a gadget in the office or kitchen and brainstorm a completely different use for it.
I’m intrigued by the story of Christopher Schaffer. At a time when so many college students are relying on ChatGPT as a shortcut to higher scores, this Cornell University professor found a solution so old that it was new again: oral exams. He asks his students to verbally answer test questions.
I love how Sal Khan, founder of the Khan Academy, encourages educators and students to leverage AI as a “coach,” not as a substitute for human thinking. In his TED talk, he reveals his KhanMigo, an AI assistant that doesn’t do the work for a student but instead works with the student. It doesn’t give any answers away but equips users to find the answer. It only tutors but never tells. This must be our future. But we must stay in the driver’s seat and not allow the AI makers to be in control, as their focus is on generating revenue. “We can’t expect the big tech companies to help us do this,” Michael Gerlich says. “No developer wants to be told their program works too well; or makes it too easy for a person to find an answer.” Human development—not human shortcuts—must be our pursuit.
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