What the Research Says about AI & the Brain

Are we getting dumber because of AI? 🤖

In this episode of Promptly Speaking, hosts Sara and Dan Roberts explore how generative AI tools like ChatGPT are rewiring our brains. Drawing on new research from MIT, Science Advances, and Harvard Business Review, they unpack how these tools influence creativity, focus, and intrinsic motivation.

You’ll hear how AI can raise productivity while lowering originality, why brain engagement drops when we outsource thinking, and what that means for our ability to learn, create, and stay mentally sharp.

💡 You’ll learn:

- What MIT discovered about how AI impacts neural engagement

- Why using AI can boost quality but reduce creativity

- How to stay mentally active when tools do the “thinking” for you

- The hidden trade-off between efficiency and satisfaction

- Simple strategies to use AI without losing your edge

🔥 Whether you’re an AI optimist or skeptic, this episode offers a grounded look at how to keep your brain — and your creativity — alive in the age of automation.

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:28 – Personal experiences with AI in daily life

05:27 – MIT study: how ChatGPT lowers brain engagement

10:51 – Can AI make us more creative—or just more average?

14:53 – The “Google Effect” and how memory changes with technology

16:00 – The productivity paradox: getting more done but caring less

19:08 – Intrinsic motivation and AI fatigue

24:46 – Balancing AI assistance with human intuition

26:32 – Final reflections and takeaways

Follow Sara & Dan:

Sara: linkedin.com/in/saralynneroberts/

Dan: linkedin.com/in/danroberts27

Email: ⁠[e-mail]⁠

📚 References & Further Reading

1. Sparrow, Liu & Wegner (2011) — Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips. Science.

https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/dwegner/files/sparrow_et_al._2011.pdf

2. MIT Media Lab (2024) — EEG study on neural engagement during essay writing with ChatGPT and Google (reported by Time).

https://time.com/7295195/ai-chatgpt-google-learning-school/

3. Doshi & Hauser (2024) — Generative AI Enhances Individual Creativity but Reduces Collective Diversity. Science Advances.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adn5290

4. Harvard Business Review (2025) — GenAI Makes People More Productive—and Less Motivated.

https://hbr.org/2025/05/research-gen-ai-makes-people-more-productive-and-less-motivated

5. Science (2023) — Experimental Evidence on the Productivity Effects of Generative AI.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh2586

6. Nature Scientific Reports (2025) — Cognitive Offloading in AI-Assisted Work: Impacts on Engagement and Attention.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-98385-2

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