Is ChatGPT Actually Harming Our Ability To Learn?

It's been over three years since ChatGPT was released, triggering the mass generative AI trend that soon caught on like wildfire. Following in the footsteps of OpenAI, a whole new breed of AI assistants, such as Gemini, Copilot, Alexa+, and Copilot started cropping up. The risks, which include privacy violation, confidently spewing misinformation, sycophancy, and triggering risky behavior, have been well-documented. A research paper from MIT mid-2025 triggered a massive debate: Is ChatGPT making us dumb? The paper was widely discussed, documenting a concept called cognitive debt linked to the usage of OpenAI's chatbot.

The experts at MIT tasked three groups with writing an essay. One relied solely on their mental vault, while the other two groups used web search and ChatGPT for the same task. The brain activity was measured using electroencephalography (EEG) to measure brain activity in terms of neural connectivity. Participants who used ChatGPT produced the lowest connectivity during the tests, which indicates lower cognitive ability, and is often associated with weaker memory recall, as well. "Over four months, LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels," the experts said, adding that there's a cognitive cost to be paid while using large language models (LLM).

This isn't, and likely won't be the only finding of its kind. Research published in the Medical Research Archive concluded that "over-reliance" on AI tools such as ChatGPT can erode essential cognitive skills. It further added that we need to find a balance between human-machine effort to preserve our natural cognitive capabilities. "Struggle, friction and mental effort are crucial to the cognitive work of learning, remembering and strengthening connections in the brain," writes Brian W. Stone, Associate Professor of Cognitive Psychology at Boise State University. Convenience, it seems, is a repeating factor working against cognitive skills, but the harms aren't necessarily universal.

"At times, I feel like I am handicapped without AI," a Delhi-based PhD researcher specializing in language learning and teaching, told SlashGear. "I've lost the zeal for creativity," the 28-year-old researcher added. Ahead of their thesis presentation at one of India's top universities, the scholar revealed that AI tools such as ChatGPT have "reduced 60% of my workload," especially at handling empirical data. They didn't say if ChatGPT actually hurt their ability to learn or process information, but pointed out that the sheer convenience and breadth of knowledge it offers have made them "pretty dependent" on ChatGPT.

They pointed out that free access to paid versions of AI tools, thanks to their academic ID, was an added incentive to try AI agents. Another student, who requested anonymity, tells us that "everyone" in their class is using ChatGPT for assignments, and to such an extent that the administration had to stick notices about non-acceptance of ChatGPT-generated content. "I used it once, and now it's too hard to work without it," said the student pursuing a Master's degree in social work.

Research from the University of Lancaster mentioned that the usage of AI bots such as ChatGPT and Gemini did not show any "significant effect on students' learning outcome and engagement," but the study did point out a different harmful side if integrating these chatbots in the learning procedure for students; over-reliance on technology tools such as AI bots for seeking information and clarity distracted them from the actual course material taught by human experts. The report also highlighted that the quality of interactions is another crucial factor, because general understanding and personalized feedback, alongside guidance and explanation offered by a human expert have an edge over risky interactions with an AI chatbot.