Is AI rotting our brains?

Recent research from MIT, covered by Artificial Intelligence News, has sparked much debate within the technology and education sectors, suggesting that AI language models such as ChatGPT may lead to a reduction in user brain activity and cognitive engagement during creative tasks. At Datnexa we believe the future of digital intelligence must be rooted in empowering, not diminishing, human potential and in responsible AI integration into educational settings, workplaces, and society at large.

AI as a Cognitive Amplifier

The MIT study reveals that individuals relying on AI support from the outset of a task showed less neural activity and reduced cognitive ownership over their work, compared to those who engaged with problems unaided. While these findings raise important questions, Datnexa believes that AI, when used intentionally, is best viewed as an amplifier and extender of human capability, rather than a passive replacement. The decline observed occurs when AI is used to supplant hard thinking, this highlights a policy concern, not a condemnation of AI itself.

Intentional Integration for Deeper Learning

Datnexa urges policymakers to prioritise strategies for blending AI after students or employees have already engaged with a problem independently. The study suggests that ‘Brain-to-LLM’ participants, those leveraging AI only after solo cognitive effort, demonstrated superior recall and higher-level integration. This points to a hybrid approach: encourage intellectual exploration without technology first, and then use AI to enrich, contextualise and challenge conclusions.

• Promote project workflows that require initial ideation and planning without digital assistance.

• Use AI to foster critical thinking by prompting learners to critique or improve generated content.

• View AI tools as contextual aids rather than solution engines.

  
  

Safeguarding Cognitive Ownership in the Workplace

If businesses rely exclusively on AI-generated materials, they risk fostering homogeneous outputs and undermining employees’ sense of ownership, impacting both creativity and problem-solving. Datnexa recommends a shift toward ‘human-in-the-loop’ models, where professionals iterate, refine, and interrogate AI contributions rather than accepting them passively.

• Encourage reflective practices: team members should summarise or quote their own work to ensure understanding and personal accountability.

• Develop explicit guidelines for the appropriate use of generative AI in knowledge work.

• Invest in training that cultivates digital discernment, teaching staff when and how to productively engage with AI.

  
  

AI, Search Engines, and the Evolution of Learning

The MIT study places search engines in a middle ground, but warns of a wider trend where search platforms integrate AI-generated search results, possibly intensifying passive cognitive consumption. Datnexa calls for transparency and control, empowering users to distinguish between human-curated and synthetic content.

• Advocate for search platforms to offer clear labelling and user choice regarding AI-generated material.

• Support research into the long-term cognitive impacts of hybrid digital search strategies.

  
  

Hey Geraldine: Technology Rooted in Human Wisdom

Hey Geraldine is an AI assistant designed for social care and health professionals, built on the knowledge and compassion of a real occupational therapist. Through a collaborative approach, Datnexa transformed decades of lived experience into an instantly accessible tool, available 24/7 to support practitioners with reliable, contextual advice. This technology does not replace critical human thinking, but rather offers a practical companion for professionals to build confidence, deepen understanding, and advance client care.

Cognitive Empowerment Through Collaboration

Key features of Hey Geraldine include a user-friendly interface embedded in daily workflows, real-time adaptation to evolving needs, and robust data privacy. Practitioners benefit from instant answers and guidance, yet are continually encouraged to engage reflectively and apply personal expertise. The continuous feedback loop, weekly huddles and live refinement, ensures the tool evolves in partnership with end users, supporting the principle of augmenting cognitive activity instead of reducing it.

Datnexa’s Commitment to Human-Centred AI

Datnexa’s ongoing innovation is driven by human-centred values: every AI product, like Hey Geraldine, is carefully built to elevate expertise, nurture decision-making, and protect cognitive ownership for professionals and the communities they serve. The positive reception from both staff and service pilots reinforces that thoughtfully integrated AI tools can deliver measurable benefits, including significant time-savings, improved adoption of digital care practices, and enhanced confidence among practitioners.

Datnexa’s approach is evidence that AI, when developed with empathy, expertise, and persistent user involvement, empowers rather than replaces the minds at work within our educational institutions, workplaces and care settings. Human-centred tools like Hey Geraldine will remain central to the Datnexa vision for an intelligently supportive digital future.

Towards an Empowered Digital Future

Datnexa recognises the limitations in MIT’s study, chiefly, sample size and demographic diversity, as cause for further exploration rather than alarm. As the adoption of AI accelerates, it is incumbent on industry leaders, educators, and policymakers to ensure that technology extends rather than erodes human cognition. The key is not how AI reduces mental effort, but how thoughtfully-crafted workflows can foster the highest forms of understanding, creativity, and learning.

In short, the future should not belong to AI that replaces thinking, but to AI that challenges, supports, and uplifts the thinking mind.