Can using AI too much negatively affect your brain?

According to a recent study by MIT that leveraged EEG to monitor the brains of participants, "Brain-only participants exhibited the strongest, most distributed networks; Search Engine users showed moderate engagement; and LLM users displayed the weakest connectivity. " (https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/your-brain-on-chatgpt/overview/)

This study shows us the unseen 'cost' of using AI for tasks that used to require more brain power before the advent of AI. In short, we don't retain as much of what we write when we use AI. That was measured as "neural connectivity patterns" in the study. Fewer connections mean less retention of information. So, while the task may have been completed, even completed better than the group without the help of AI, the human authors using AI did not take nearly as much information away from the task. They retained notably less information and therefore, did not gain as much knowledge.

Let's ask ourselves: How can we use AI in a way that augments our thinking but doesn't replace it? Be careful that you don't let AI do the majority of the work. Let it help and support you but always be sure to keep thinking!