AI Is Not Making You Dumb

All over social media, there’s a rising fear that Artificial Intelligence is quietly destroying our minds. When you go to X, you’ll find that fear there. You go to LinkedIn, you’ll find it there. You even go to Instagram, you’ll still find it.

The thought behind this fear is that AI is turning human thinking itself into a luxury good. A recent article by Futurism shed more light on this anxiety through the story of Sam Schechner, a tech reporter for The Wall Street Journal, who outsourced too much of his French writing to ChatGPT. If he wants to write emails in French, he goes to ChatGPT. Even at times when he wants to text his French friends, he goes to ChatGPT.

Over time, Sam noticed that his ability to form meaningful ideas in French began to rust. In his own words, he felt like his brain was being eaten by AI.

The Backlash

The backlash was swift. Experts quoted in the article warned that excessive reliance on AI leads to what psychologists call cognitive offloading.

In a way, cognitive offloading is a good thing. Like in the case of when we overuse GPS or calculators. This way, we externalize our cognitive processes to help our brain avoid performing tedious work. However, the negative side of this is that the more we lean on external tools, the less we keep our minds sharp.

Some research even suggests a link between AI overuse and declining critical thinking, memory issues, and lower academic performance. That is, whether you’re a student or not, you are more likely to struggle with independent reasoning when you use AI frequently.

The Truth In This Fear

Now, let’s acknowledge the truth in this fear.

We all know AI is powerful. But what many fail to admit is that AI is addictive. It is like sugar. And when you consume too much sugar, you get to realize that it is best consumed in moderation.

But there’s a side to this story that’s getting buried under the panic. AI, used wisely, is not a threat to our cognition. It’s a comfort to it. Not because it helps us carry the burden of thinking, but because it frees our minds from chronic stress.

Most social media posts and article headlines focus on “Laziness and AI usage kill cognition.” But what they should be focusing on is, “Stress kills cognition faster than laziness ever could.”

There are many research-backed articles out there that talk so much about how chronic stress significantly impacts cognitive function. This can cause memory problems and even brain shrinkage.

Some daily activities juggling endless emails, participating in back-to-back meetings, and even transcribing audio to text, cause chronic stress. These activities shrink the hippocampus, which is the brain’s memory center. They also weaken the prefrontal cortex, which handles planning, decision-making, and emotional regulation. This shows that stress doesn’t just make us tired. It makes us worse at thinking clearly, remembering things, and even solving problems.

What AI Offers

Now, let’s take a look at what AI really offers us.

It automates tedious tasks. It helps schedule meetings and sort information. With AI, we can translate and transcribe. Drafting emails becomes easier. We can easily create outlines. And many more.

These activities mentioned above do not build mental strength. In fact, they are what makes us mentally exhausted. And when we burn hours every day getting exhausted by these tasks, we don’t have energy left for the kind of deep thinking that makes us feel alive.

Letting AI handle things does not make us dumb or lazy. It gives us back time and focus to use our brainpower for higher-level thinking.

Think about what we already accept as smart self-care. People use meditation apps to lower stress. Women use apps to track their periods. Men use apps to customize their workouts. We use journaling apps to declutter the mind. No one accuses Notion or a calculator of making people lazy. On the contrary, we view them as our second brain.

AI, when used strategically, should be seen in the same way. It’s not just a productivity tool. It’s a preventive mental health tool.

In the same way that a good meditation session can lower cortisol and restore focus, a well-written AI prompt can decrease the stress of an annoying task and help you stay focused. It doesn’t matter if it is a written work, drawing, or painting; not everything we offload is about avoiding using our cognitive skills. Sometimes, it’s about reducing mental friction so that we can think at our best.

Of course, the keyword here is mindful. The point in Schechner’s story is not to warn us against using AI. It’s to caution us about how we use it. When you let AI take over your thinking without intention, yes, your mental muscles weaken. This same thing would happen if you stopped speaking a language for years or relied on a calculator for every little math.

Flipping the Script

But what if we flipped the script? What if we used AI to protect our brains instead of blaming it for making us dumb?

For instance, let’s say you use Grammarly AI to edit and proofread your article so that you can focus on just writing. Or let’s say you use Otter AI to summarize your meetings so you can engage more deeply during the call instead of trying to take notes. Or let’s say you use Zapier AI to automate tasks so you can spend your energy on execution.

That’s not laziness. That’s leverage. And AI is going to be a catalyst for you only if you treat it like one.

The truth is, we need a new conversation about intelligence in the AI age. Intelligence isn’t just about using your brain more or working harder. It’s about adaptability.

Knowing what to do yourself.

Knowing what to let go of.

Knowing when to ask for help.

And above all, protecting the brain’s most limited resource: attention.

When we frame AI as something that makes us dumb or less creative, we’re kind of accepting the Buddhist idea that stress is just part of being human. That the more mental burden we carry, the smarter we are. Like in the case of Einstein, Maya Angelou, da Vinci, and some other creative minds who grew through stress and hard times.

In reality, it’s the opposite. The smartest people are often those who know how to reduce noise and focus on what really matters. AI can be an important part of that process if we choose to use it that way.

So yes, we should be aware of the risks of over-reliance. But let’s not fall into the trap of romanticizing stress and exhaustion. Or demonizing the tools that can help our brain function better.

Because in a world that rewards constant output, clarity is a rebellion. And AI, used wisely, might just be the partner we need in that fight. Not to escape thinking. But to reclaim it.