🌅 What Happens When Students “Write” with AI

SOURCE

Kosmyna et al. (2025)

WHAT TO KNOW

• In a series of experiments, researchers at MIT Media Lab found 83% of students who used ChatGPT to write an essay were unable to correctly quote the paper they had “written” only moments earlier, compared to just 11% of students who wrote the essays using a standard search engine or no tool at all. The students who used ChatGPT also showed weaker brain activity and worse learning and engagement over time than the other students.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The findings—which have yet to be peer-reviewed—suggest using ChatGPT could reduce critical thinking and harm learning, especially for younger users whose developing brains are at the most risk of lost progress. At the same time, the authors stress the results do not mean AI is making people “dumber,” since the reduced brain activity could mean the tasks simply got easier, and the study wasn’t designed to investigate or suggest a conclusion about the impact on intelligence.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• Lead author Nataliya Kosmyna released the findings earlier than usual in the scientific process to get ahead of the potential downside, saying she didn’t want to wait the usual 6-8 months of peer review out of fear “there will be some policymaker who decides, ‘let’s do GPT kindergarten.’” Kosmyna and her team also inserted a couple of AI traps into the paper, ensuring people who used AI to “read” the study received limited information about the results.