Are We Living in a Golden Age of Foolishness?

Dr. Mashiur Rahman

A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has shown that using artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT makes the areas of the human brain responsible for thinking, attention, and creativity less active. The research was led by Natalia Kosmyna, an expert who has long worked on brain activity.

Kosmyna and her colleagues divided the participants of an experiment into three groups—one group wrote essays without any digital assistance, another used internet search, and the last group used ChatGPT. The results were striking: those who used ChatGPT showed the lowest levels of cognitive activity in their brains.

Even more concerning was when, after finishing their tasks, the participants were asked if they remembered what they had written—most couldn’t recall anything. Kosmyna commented, “You just wrote something, yet you can’t remember any of it—this is the scariest part.”

The human brain needs a bit of ‘friction’ or mental effort to learn. But modern technology is reducing that mental workout from every aspect of our lives. We use our phone’s calculator for arithmetic, map apps for directions, and search engines for information. As a result, we are gradually thinking less, remembering less, and making fewer decisions ourselves. Kosmyna says, “Our brains love shortcuts, but not for learning—learning needs challenges.”

The reading, math, and science scores of 15-year-old students in countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have been declining since 2012. While IQ scores rose globally during the twentieth century, in recent times many developed countries are seeing decreases. Experts believe the easy availability of technology and overdependence on digital devices are making our brains increasingly lazy.

Tech specialist Linda Stone calls this “Continuous Partial Attention”—trying to do many things at once, but never focusing completely on any. Managing emails, messages, and videos all at once keeps the brain’s alert or “fight or flight” system always active, which lowers attention spans and memory. One study found that about 80% of people unconsciously hold their breath while reading emails—a condition called “screen apnea.”

In the internet era, we handed over the tasks of storing and remembering information to technology. In the AI era, we’re now passing even our thinking to machines. Today, ChatGPT is writing our reports, composing emails, and even making decisions for us. If this trend continues, people will get used to accepting ready-made solutions without analyzing problems themselves.

Michael Garlik of Switzerland says, “AI can help you perfect the candle—it will make it brighter, more durable, and beautiful. But it will never invent the lightbulb.” It takes creative, messy, and critical human thinking to invent the lightbulb.

A survey in the UK found that 92% of university students use AI, and about 20% complete their assignments, in whole or in part, with ChatGPT. This raises concerns about education—are students truly learning, or just mechanically producing written work? American teacher Matt Miles says, “If you see a student busy on their phone, you can assume their productivity is zero.”

Socrates once expressed similar fears about written language—he thought people would lose their memory if they relied on writing. But in reality, writing expanded human knowledge. However, today’s AI era brings a different worry—not only information, but now even our capacity for thought is passing into the hands of machines.

Technology can make us stronger, if we use it as a companion—not as a replacement. Because while building intelligent machines is relatively easy, maintaining intelligent humans is much harder. Are we living in a golden age of foolishness?