Can artificial intelligence dull the human brain? Doctor warns of impact on memory, language and recall | Today’s news
Continuous use of artificial intelligence (AI) can adversely affect the human brain in the long run. While doctors warn that AI may not harm the brain itself, concerns arise when a person depends on AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok and others for every activity, preventing them from making independent decisions.
Effects of AI tools on the human brain
Dr Girish Nair, Senior Consultant Neurology at Apollo Navi Mumbai, told Livemint: “When we understand something properly, we do more than just read it. We process it, question it, relate it to what we already know and then form our own understanding. If AI gives us a ready-made summary every time, we can save time, but we also do less mental work ourselves.”
What is cognitive load?
In medical terms, this is called cognitive load. Cognitive offloading is the use of an external tool to reduce the mental processing demands of a task.
There is nothing wrong with seeking external help in life, such as using calculators, taking notes, and relying on search engines. The problem starts when the individual stops trying to stop, think, analyze and solve the problem on their own.
Continuous use of AI can impair memory, decision-making and problem-solving
Total dependence on artificial intelligence tools can reduce the amount of practice we get when doing tasks ourselves. It is likely to affect working memory, memory, problem solving, language skills and decision making.
“Take something as simple as writing an email. If AI writes every email from the first sentence, we do less work in organizing our thoughts, choosing the right words and deciding how we want to communicate.”
“Getting an answer quickly is helpful, but the brain also benefits from going through the steps needed to get to that answer,” Dr. Nair said.
Children at risk
According to him, more attention needs to be paid to how children use AI than adults.
Children continue to develop important cognitive skills such as attention, memory, problem solving and self-control.
It can be useful to use artificial intelligence to explain a difficult concept after a child has tried and failed to understand it. But if artificial intelligence is regularly used to write homework, solve a math problem or prepare an answer from scratch, the child gets fewer opportunities to develop these skills independently, the doctor warns.
Should we stop using AI now?
However, this does not mean that one should immediately stop using AI tools.
“What’s important is how and when we use it. Try to do the first round yourself and then use AI to check your work, identify gaps or offer a different perspective. That way the brain stays actively engaged,” the neuroscientist said, offering a balanced approach.
