Can using an AI writing assistant change our brains for the better?
Lynda Harris | October 15, 2025
Nearly a year ago I wrote a blog titled ‘Why my AI writing assistant still needs me’. I described how AI needed my brain, my human-ness, and my knowledge of what ‘complete’ looks like. It needed an understanding of how my reader might react to certain content. I wrote about nuance and context, and empathy.
Now that I have hundreds of pieces of AI-assisted writing behind me, I can confirm that engaging our human brain is entirely necessary for producing quality communications. And, happily and unexpectedly, my brain has also benefited immensely from my interactions with AI.
How could this be?
It’s all about critical thinking
Generative AI excels at content generation but lacks true understanding, creativity, or real-time judgement. So, to get the best out of AI, I have to do what AI can’t — I have to think! A lot. And often in ways I hadn’t anticipated.
I can see that AI is forcing me to be a better critical thinker. I need to think clearly and specifically about my purpose and my audience. I need to give clear direction and instructions. I need to work out scope — where to look, what to include, and, just as importantly, what to leave out.
Without critical thinking, my AI-generated content can easily be poorly focused, incomplete, inaccurate, or just plain ineffective. Thinking critically avoids these poor outcomes by making me question, validate, and iterate to improve the result.
My thinking brain allows me to set AI up for success, to spot weaknesses, and leverage strengths. It’s AI+Human™ all the way. Or perhaps I should say, it’s ‘human + AI + human…’ on repeat until done — a sophisticated dance of strengths in which I am both the conductor and performer.
I’m glad I had figured this out for myself before I read the worrying findings of a recent MIT study. It suggests that excessive use of AI tools like ChatGPT may lead to reduced brain activity, lower memory retention, and a diminished sense of ownership over one’s work.
Here’s what happened in the study.
What happens to our brain if we leave it all to AI
The MIT study found that relying heavily on AI for tasks can negatively impact cognitive functions over time. The study divided 54 participants into three groups and asked them to write several essays. One group used ChatGPT, another used a search engine, and the third group relied solely on their own brain.
Researchers used an EEG to record the writers’ brain activity across 32 regions, and found that of the three groups, ChatGPT users had the lowest brain engagement and “consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.” Over the course of several months, ChatGPT users got lazier with each subsequent essay, often resorting to copy-and-paste by the end of the study.
Is Using ChatGPT to Write Your Essay Bad for Your Brain? New MIT Study Explained
Quite a confronting finding!
The takeaway: using AI can help keep your brain sharp — but only if you’re there
The MIT research, supported by neuroscience, and my ‘N-of-1 experience’ is clear. Rely too much on AI to do your thinking for you and you risk quickly losing a vital part of what makes you ‘you’.
That thought is sobering and, putting it plainly, scary. I’m staying around as the lead in my writing process. AI gives me speed, ideas, occasional first drafts, and a wealth of other benefits. But it’s a predictive tool trained entirely on what has already happened. I’ll bring the now and the future. I’ll bring the full context, plus my creativity, nuance, emotion, empathy, and curiosity. And my critically thinking brain.
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