Are AI chatbots making us lose control of our brains?
A psychologist says chatbots may be weakening attention and critical thinking by doing cognitive work for people. She argues effort is the key to keeping minds sharp.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
MIT Technology Review reports a conversation with psychologist Gloria Mark, who warns that AI chatbots may reduce the mental effort people need to learn, evaluate, and remember information. She links that concern to her long-running research on shrinking attention spans and the stress caused by constant attention switching.
The article says if a machine does too much thinking for people, their brains may not get enough exercise. It is like always using a scooter and never walking, so the leg muscles get weaker.
Analysis
The attention problem
The article centers on Gloria Mark, a University of California, Irvine psychologist who has studied how digital technology affects attention for decades. She describes a steady decline in average attention span in her research: about two and a half minutes in 2003, around 75 seconds in 2012, and 47 seconds on average in studies from 2014 to 2020. She says frequent attention switching is stressful and makes it harder to complete tasks well.
What changes with AI
Mark’s concern about AI is not just that it is distracting, but that it can reduce the amount of thinking people do themselves. When someone asks a chatbot to write, summarize, or evaluate information, Mark says that person is outsourcing the mental effort that normally helps people understand and retain what they read. The article frames this as a loss of “depth of processing,” which she says is important for learning.
Broader risks
Mark also warns that weaker critical thinking can make people more vulnerable to misinformation. The article extends the concern to AI-powered synthetic companions, which can feel easy and rewarding because they do not require the effort that real relationships do. In her view, that could weaken emotional intelligence over time.
The counterpoint
The piece does not claim that all digital technology is harmful. It notes that social media can help marginalized people form connections and that research on its effects, especially on children, remains inconclusive. Mark also points to the need for large, long-term studies. Her overall message is that people may be able to course-correct, but only if they put more effort back into how they use these tools.
Key points
- Gloria Mark says attention spans have shrunk sharply in her long-term research on digital technology.
- She argues that AI chatbots reduce “depth of processing” when people let them do the thinking.
- Mark warns that weaker critical thinking can make people more vulnerable to misinformation.
- The article says AI companions may also affect emotional intelligence because they do not require real human effort.
- The piece notes that social media research, especially on children, is still inconclusive.
If people use AI as a helper instead of a replacement for thinking, it could still save time while leaving room for learning and judgment. The article suggests that putting in more effort can help preserve attention, understanding, and emotional skills.
If people keep handing off more writing, summarizing, and evaluating to chatbots, their thinking skills could weaken over time. The article also warns that this could make misinformation easier to believe and may worsen loneliness or emotional flatness.
