Is AI Making Us Forget How to Think? The Rise of “Brain Rot”
When AI does the research, what happens to our ability to learn, remember, and think for ourselves?
Last spring, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania gave 250 people a simple writing assignment: share advice with a friend on how to live a healthier lifestyle.
Half of them used traditional Google search. The other half used AI-generated summaries from new search tools.
The results were striking.
Those using AI wrote vague, predictable advice, “eat healthy, stay hydrated, get sleep.” Meanwhile, the group using traditional search produced more detailed, meaningful suggestions about mental and physical wellness.
It’s a small example of a much bigger problem: when technology does our thinking for us, our minds start to weaken.
Welcome to the Age of “Brain Rot”
The term “brain rot” was crowned Oxford’s Word of the Year in 2024, describing the mental fog that comes from constant, low-effort content, endless TikToks, quick AI summaries, and shallow engagement.
For years, researchers have warned about how social media chips away at attention spans. Now, they’re seeing similar warning signs with AI.
Socrates once worried that writing would make people forgetful. In 2008, The Atlantic famously asked, “Is Google making us stupid?”
Today’s version of that question might be: Is AI making us mentally lazy?
When ChatGPT Writes, Do We Still Learn?
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, researchers wanted to know how AI tools affect real learning. They asked 54 college students to write short essays, one group with ChatGPT, one with Google, and one without any tools.
Sensors measuring brain activity revealed that the ChatGPT users showed the least mental engagement. They typed faster and finished sooner, but here’s the scary part:
One minute after finishing, 83% of those students couldn’t recall a single line of what they wrote.
They’d outsourced their thinking, and, as a result, their memory.
Compare that to students who wrote on their own: many could recall entire paragraphs from memory. They felt ownership of their work because their brains were fully involved in the process.
The conclusion? When AI handles the creative lift, we stop learning.
Social Media’s Silent Damage
It’s not just AI. Social media continues to play a major role in how our brains develop, especially for younger generations.
A major study from UC San Francisco tracked over 6,500 children between ages 9 and 13. Researchers found that those who spent three or more hours a day on social media scored significantly lower on memory, reading, and vocabulary tests than kids who didn’t.
It’s not that social media directly “makes you dumb.” It’s that every hour spent scrolling is an hour not spent reading, reflecting, or engaging deeply. Over time, that trade-off rewires how we focus, and it’s beginning to show in national reading and comprehension scores.
So, How Do We Use AI Without Losing Our Edge?
Technology isn’t the enemy. The real issue is how we use it.
Researchers say the most effective way to use AI is to treat it as a second step, not a starting point.
- Think first. Draft or brainstorm your own ideas before using AI.
- Use it like a calculator. Let AI refine or fact-check, not replace your process.
- Create screen-free zones. Keep phones away from the dinner table, bed, and morning routine.
- Read longform content. Articles, essays, and books rebuild attention.
- Pause before you post. Ask: Is this adding something new, or just noise?
The healthiest use of AI mirrors how we once used Google: as a tool to enhance learning, not bypass it.
Final Thoughts
Technology should expand our minds, not replace them.
AI and social media have the potential to improve creativity and connection, but only if we stay intentional.
The next time you open ChatGPT, TikTok, or any “smart” tool, ask yourself:
"Am I actually learning something… or just scrolling my brain away?"
Because in the era of automation, the real superpower isn’t speed, it’s self-awareness.
About the Creator
Socialode
We are a mobile app team working for the past year on creating a platform that allows users to connect with people while protecting their privacy. Our goal is to fix the world of social media.
www.socialode.com
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