“Turns out, AI isn’t making us more productive. It’s making us cognitively bankrupt”

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A recent study from the Imagining the Digital Future Center found that 54 percent of American adults using large language models say AI boosts their productivity, and 42 percent say it enhances creativity. But that’s only half the story. Fifty percent admit they feel lazy when using AI, and 35 percent say it feels like cheating. That’s not a productivity revolution. That’s a psychological red flag.

The problem isn’t just emotional. It’s neurological. A report from Forbes warns that AI is reshaping how we process information, not just how we access it. Unlike calculators or spreadsheets, which assist without replacing understanding, AI tools often bypass the need for comprehension altogether. The result is a generation of users who can generate answers without knowing how they got there. That’s not efficiency. That’s dependency.

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chriswestfall/2024/12/18/the-dark-side-of-ai-tracking-the-decline-of-human-cognitive-skills/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-digital-self/202503/the-lazy-genius-how-ai-boosts-us-and-bums-us-out

https://futurism.com/experts-ai-stupider