July 7, 2025 • 4 mins
A new brain study is suggesting that regularly using ChatGPT could actively be making us dumber.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
I heard podcasts he more Kiss podcast playlist and listen
live on the free iHeart app.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Laura, I know that you sometimes use chat GPT. What
were the last things that you looked up?
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Oh, God, don't put me in the spot.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Well, I say this because I'm definitely new to it.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
I don't use chat GPT.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Well, and when I say that, there are some people
who use chat GPT as like their entire personality. They
write business plans on it, they have workout meal plans,
they do their tax through chat.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Like I use it for questions, I could probably just
use the normal Internet.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I think that I didn't really understand how like thorough
it was because I've sort of not got the hype.
It's one of those things I listen to people talking about.
But I sporadically would put some questions in. But I
didn't realize that in just seconds it could do like
all of your work.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Yeah, so I'm definitely not using it. Well.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
My last search was chemtrails myths debunked?
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Are they real? I don't know why.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
What was the answer, kem trails There was absolutely no
scientific evidence that they exist. We are not being poisoned
by the government. Everyone in case you thought we were somebody.
I should have looked this up.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Someone recently commented on one of my photos on Instagram,
I went trails. Yeah, I was in Italy and it
had been like sporadically raining and there was a cloud
in the photo and someone wrote, it's raining from the chemtrails.
I could see them in the back of your photo
and I was like, what, Well.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Now you don't have to Google. I have chat GPT.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
That also, I was looking up things like normal weight
gained for twenty one weeks pregnant.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
So look, I mean, how big is my baby?
Speaker 1 (01:36):
I certainly don't need to be using chat GPT.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
I mean, I'm killing the environment, as it would see.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I did spend last night on chat GPT looking up
new business names, not for us, Laura, but just for myself.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Anyway. I had some good examples.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
But what I wanted to say is I saw this
new study from these researchers at MIT's Media Lab. They
have said that they think that chat GPT is reducing
our critical thinking skills. Now that doesn't sound like shock horror,
but it was really interesting. So they used like an
EEG which records brain activity. Yeah, and they split people
up into three groups which were using nothing at all,
(02:10):
using Google's search engine, and using chat GPT to write essays,
so like three groups you could just use your brain,
Google or chat GPT. Then they studied their brain activity
and they made them do some tests off the back
of it, and basically, people that use chat GPT over
the coming months had consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and
(02:30):
behavioral levels. They had the lowest brain engagement, so they're
literally watching their brain and just nothing's happening. And on
top of that, they then asked them to repeat and
try and remember what they had written in the essay,
So like even though they've used different search engines, they
still had to write the essay. Everyone that used chat
GPT had the lowest memory level, Like they couldn't even
(02:53):
remember what they were writing.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
I mean, I know that there's been a research studied
on this, but I feel like that that's pretty evident
because if you're going to write it from scratch, you've
got to have done the research.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
You've got to interpret it, you've got to spit.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
It out, like you have to actually be able to
comprehend what it is that you have read. Whereas like
the reason why people are getting into so much trouble
for using chat GPT in their workplace and everywhere else
is because you're basically just outsourcing your own thinking or
critical thinking or work use and just removing the long
dash that everyone knows and now we all know now
(03:23):
that that's like the indicator of chat GPT.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Well, there used to be a bit of an argument
I shouldn't they used to be there still is. There
was an argument that people were saying, well, it doesn't
necessarily make you dumber. It just gives you freeze up
more time to do other things, which in a way
it does. But if it's only free and you are
up more time to do other things and in the
other time you're still using chat chept to do the
other things, well.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Then we are getting dumber.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
So they're actually they're genuinely now worried about our next generation.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
I think personally, and I know, like we joke about
what I've been searching and stuff. I think I was
quite a late adopter to it, and I don't use
it in the way that people who are very good
and like critical at creating. I think because you can
give it like different personas and whatnot set up libraries
and all that sort of stuff. We all know that
person in either our friendship group or maybe you've met
him at a party and I'm saying him because it's
(04:07):
often a but sometimes you know it shouldn't gender it.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
But there are.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
People we're talking about because I have met them over
and over again. There are people whose chat GPT is
now their entire personality.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
They do everything.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Every email they write has spat out through chat GPT,
every single meal plan they use chat GPT as their therapist.
Like it does make me wonder, not only in terms
of like essays and schoolwork and everything else, but are
some people leaning on it too heavily that they're outsourcing
so much of their personality to what is essentially just
a computer.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
One hundred percent?
Speaker 3 (04:42):
But what's the next generation going to be? Can we
not string a sentence together? Can we not write?
Speaker 1 (04:46):
But we're really good at writing, just they won't be
able to do it without being prompted
I heard podcasts he more Kiss podcast playlist and listen
live on the free iHeart app.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Laura, I know that you sometimes use chat GPT. What
were the last things that you looked up?
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Oh, God, don't put me in the spot.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Well, I say this because I'm definitely new to it.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
I don't use chat GPT.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Well, and when I say that, there are some people
who use chat GPT as like their entire personality. They
write business plans on it, they have workout meal plans,
they do their tax through chat.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Like I use it for questions, I could probably just
use the normal Internet.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I think that I didn't really understand how like thorough
it was because I've sort of not got the hype.
It's one of those things I listen to people talking about.
But I sporadically would put some questions in. But I
didn't realize that in just seconds it could do like
all of your work.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Yeah, so I'm definitely not using it. Well.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
My last search was chemtrails myths debunked?
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Are they real? I don't know why.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
What was the answer, kem trails There was absolutely no
scientific evidence that they exist. We are not being poisoned
by the government. Everyone in case you thought we were somebody.
I should have looked this up.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Someone recently commented on one of my photos on Instagram,
I went trails. Yeah, I was in Italy and it
had been like sporadically raining and there was a cloud
in the photo and someone wrote, it's raining from the chemtrails.
I could see them in the back of your photo
and I was like, what, Well.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Now you don't have to Google. I have chat GPT.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
That also, I was looking up things like normal weight
gained for twenty one weeks pregnant.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
So look, I mean, how big is my baby?
Speaker 1 (01:36):
I certainly don't need to be using chat GPT.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
I mean, I'm killing the environment, as it would see.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I did spend last night on chat GPT looking up
new business names, not for us, Laura, but just for myself.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Anyway. I had some good examples.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
But what I wanted to say is I saw this
new study from these researchers at MIT's Media Lab. They
have said that they think that chat GPT is reducing
our critical thinking skills. Now that doesn't sound like shock horror,
but it was really interesting. So they used like an
EEG which records brain activity. Yeah, and they split people
up into three groups which were using nothing at all,
(02:10):
using Google's search engine, and using chat GPT to write essays,
so like three groups you could just use your brain,
Google or chat GPT. Then they studied their brain activity
and they made them do some tests off the back
of it, and basically, people that use chat GPT over
the coming months had consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and
(02:30):
behavioral levels. They had the lowest brain engagement, so they're
literally watching their brain and just nothing's happening. And on
top of that, they then asked them to repeat and
try and remember what they had written in the essay,
So like even though they've used different search engines, they
still had to write the essay. Everyone that used chat
GPT had the lowest memory level, Like they couldn't even
(02:53):
remember what they were writing.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
I mean, I know that there's been a research studied
on this, but I feel like that that's pretty evident
because if you're going to write it from scratch, you've
got to have done the research.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
You've got to interpret it, you've got to spit.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
It out, like you have to actually be able to
comprehend what it is that you have read. Whereas like
the reason why people are getting into so much trouble
for using chat GPT in their workplace and everywhere else
is because you're basically just outsourcing your own thinking or
critical thinking or work use and just removing the long
dash that everyone knows and now we all know now
(03:23):
that that's like the indicator of chat GPT.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Well, there used to be a bit of an argument
I shouldn't they used to be there still is. There
was an argument that people were saying, well, it doesn't
necessarily make you dumber. It just gives you freeze up
more time to do other things, which in a way
it does. But if it's only free and you are
up more time to do other things and in the
other time you're still using chat chept to do the
other things, well.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Then we are getting dumber.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
So they're actually they're genuinely now worried about our next generation.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
I think personally, and I know, like we joke about
what I've been searching and stuff. I think I was
quite a late adopter to it, and I don't use
it in the way that people who are very good
and like critical at creating. I think because you can
give it like different personas and whatnot set up libraries
and all that sort of stuff. We all know that
person in either our friendship group or maybe you've met
him at a party and I'm saying him because it's
(04:07):
often a but sometimes you know it shouldn't gender it.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
But there are.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
People we're talking about because I have met them over
and over again. There are people whose chat GPT is
now their entire personality.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
They do everything.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Every email they write has spat out through chat GPT,
every single meal plan they use chat GPT as their therapist.
Like it does make me wonder, not only in terms
of like essays and schoolwork and everything else, but are
some people leaning on it too heavily that they're outsourcing
so much of their personality to what is essentially just
a computer.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
One hundred percent?
Speaker 3 (04:42):
But what's the next generation going to be? Can we
not string a sentence together? Can we not write?
Speaker 1 (04:46):
But we're really good at writing, just they won't be
able to do it without being prompted
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