Don鈥檛 Let AI Make You Dumber
KENNESAW, Ga. | Oct 27, 2025
While people are quite enamored with how AI is making life easier today, there is risk that comes along with this passing of work to AI. Sure, we can now write drafts, develop code, and find answers with very little effort. But we need to remember that our brain鈥檚 function depends on using it and keeping it fit just like our muscles require use to stay fit. A few generations of people not using their brains very much can lead to a world like in the movie Idiocracy.
Automation Degrades Brain Function
There have been a variety of studies investigating how automated technologies impact people鈥檚 own abilities. For example, there have been well publicized studies about how . Worse, the brain activity in the navigation portion of the brain declines as well.
I鈥檝e seen this in action with teens I know. They learned to drive with GPS widely available and mostly just follow the prompts. I have real concerns as to their ability to navigate home on their own from more than a couple miles away if their phone died or the GPS system went down. They simply haven鈥檛 developed their 鈥渘avigation muscles鈥� in the way I was forced to do when I was young.
The same phenomenon has been shown in other areas as well. For example, after relying heavily on today鈥檚 autopilot functions.
AI Is Enabling The Offloading Of Many Brain Functions
Some of the most critical skills for success in life include problem solving, critical thinking, and the ability to acquire and assimilate new knowledge. Traditionally, each of those skills required us to make generous use of our brains to succeed. Today, many people skip the thinking and simply ask AI for answers. One of my colleagues, Aaron French, also wrote .
While this shortcut can be helpful when used in moderation, relying on it too much will rob your brain of the exercise your 鈥渢hinking muscles鈥� need. If AI always hands you answers, you鈥檒l never get the satisfaction of solving a problem because YOU will never really solve one. Similarly, you won鈥檛 truly learn the answers provided and assimilate new knowledge. If you simply cut and paste answers in the moment, the knowledge won鈥檛 make it out of your short-term memory.
Worse, what about children who grow up never being required to solve a problem or think critically? Instead of having their thinking muscles atrophy, they might never develop at all.
Use It Or Lose It!
We need to take seriously the need to keep our brains in shape just like our bodies. When it comes to exercise, it isn鈥檛 about efficiency. When I run a multi-mile loop from my house, it isn鈥檛 because that鈥檚 the most efficient way to get from where I am standing now to the same spot 30 or 40 minutes later. It is far from the easiest and most efficient path 鈥� which is just standing still! However, I do the run because I want to condition my body so that I remain able to run those miles and for other health benefits. If I don鈥檛 force myself to run and keep in shape and instead just sit still all the time, then I won鈥檛 get any of those benefits.
We need to similarly force ourselves to exercise our thinking muscles. Even if we frequently use AI as a shortcut to solve a problem, we every now and then must skip the AI tool and solve that problem ourselves. Like with running, we won鈥檛 be solving that problem ourselves because it is quickest way to do it. AI might be faster. We will solve that problem ourselves to keep our thinking muscles in shape and to get the additional health benefits of having a well-tuned brain.
Do Your Part To Avoid A Future Like Idiocracy
Each of us needs to force ourselves to use our brains at times even when we could pass the effort to AI. Equally important, leaders need to require their organizations to do this as well. If we are evaluated at work purely on minimizing the time for each task we are assigned, we鈥檒l be driven to use AI all the time. There must be an accounting for the fact that every 5, 10, or N tasks should be completed manually. This will increase our average time to completion but also keep our thinking muscles fit.
It is in nobody鈥檚 interest to have an organization of people who can鈥檛 think through problems on their own and can鈥檛 get much done if their AI tools go down. I, for one, do not want to devolve into a world anything like that of the movie Idiocracy. While we can easily avoid that fate, if we aren鈥檛 intentional about forcing ourselves to maintain our thinking muscles then we could slowly head that direction.
Your call to action: In the coming weeks as you feel the temptation to skip thinking and to ask AI to complete a task, consider whether it is an occasion where you should skip the AI and exercise your brain. Much like physical exercise, you won鈥檛 just be healthier for it, but you might just find that you enjoy and look forward to the opportunities to think for yourself!
