So you have a project in front of you and don’t know where to start and you go to Claude or ChatGPT to give you some ideas.  It asks you if you would like an outline, you say “yes”.  It then asks you if you would like a mini article, a summary or some other task that basically writes the whole thing for you and you say “yes” again. Before you know it the whole project is done.  But is that a good thing?...

Cognitive offloading — using tools in the environment to reduce mental demand — can be helpful. But when it becomes the default way we handle thinking tasks, it can gradually make us less mentally engaged and, over time, increase stress rather than reduce it.

Researchers sometimes describe this risk as “cognitive debt.” In the MIT Media Lab research on Your Brain on ChatGPT, participants who used AI while writing essays showed up to 55% less neural connectivity, and 83% couldn’t quote a single sentence from what they had just written. The concern isn’t the tool itself. It’s that when thinking, remembering, and organizing ideas are constantly outsourced, the brain stops practicing those skills.

The brain follows a simple biological rule: use it or lose it. When we repeatedly offload tasks like remembering information, navigating, or reasoning through problems, the neural pathways responsible for those abilities can weaken. Studies of GPS use show something similar. People who rely heavily on GPS tend to show declines in spatial memory, while the famous studies of London taxi drivers found that memorizing complex street maps actually grew the hippocampus, the brain region involved in learning and memory.

This is where stress enters the picture. Cognitive offloading can create a subtle form of mental dependency. When the tool isn’t available, people often feel slower, less confident, and more overwhelmed by tasks that used to feel manageable. Instead of strengthening our ability to solve problems, constant outsourcing can reduce our sense of mental control.

There’s also another stress factor: when AI or quick summaries provide answers instantly, we often skip the process of evaluating whether the answer is correct. Research on search behavior shows users are increasingly getting answers without following the trail of sources. That can create uncertainty and mental friction later when decisions depend on information we didn’t fully process.

So paradoxically, relying too heavily on cognitive offloading can make people feel less capable, more dependent on tools, and more mentally strained when deeper thinking is required. The healthiest balance is to treat tools like AI as supporting scaffolding, not a replacement for the mental work that keeps our brains strong.

Here’s some suggestions for keeping the brain strong and have fun while doing it:
Puzzles and Games: Engage in crossword puzzles, Sudoku, jigsaws, or card games (e.g., bridge, solitaire) to strengthen problem-solving and pattern recognition.

Bottom line, use AI as a tool but not a replacement for your thinking.

Stress impairs memory, creativity, and decision-making
National Library of Medicine