ChatGPT used in the early days of writing could reduce memory retention, dull the brain function, and limit creative thinking, a recent study by MIT suggests. This latest study brings focus on the use of AI in education. The findings were shared after researchers tracked brain activity across four writing sessions in 54 students using high-density EEG.

In its research, MIT divided writing support tools in three categories - no tools (use only the brain), traditional Google search, and GPT-4. The findings claim that students who had no tools used the frontal-parietal and semantic connectivity at its most optimum level, indicating deep memory processing. Those that relied on ChatGPT from the beginning, struggled to recall their own sentences or quote material they had just written, when switched to ‘use brain-only’ writing.

The research claims that excessive use of generative AI tools can lower the brain’s ability to encode, retrieve, and synthesize information. The research concludes that students should not be given AI tools in the early stages. This may limit their ability to form “durable memory traces” and cause them to lose cognitive expression. A hybrid approach is recommended wherein the early phase should be void of AI tools and then introduction AI assistance later on, and in pahses, could help preserve cognitive agency.