Cognitive scientists found using AI for just 10 minutes impairs brain performance

Critics of artificial intelligence caution that, as a relatively new technology, its long-term effects on the human brain are still unknown. But a new study shows that AI could be dangerous even in the short term, with just 10 minutes of AI use leading to impaired brain performance. The study , conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Oxford, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of California, Los Angeles, challenged participants to complete a set of fraction-based math problems. Half the group was tasked to solve the problems on their own, while the other half was given access to an AI assistant powered by OpenAI’s GPT-5 model—only to have that AI helper removed without warning for the test’s final three problems. Though the AI-assisted test-takers had a higher solve rate than the control group for most of the experiment, once the AI was removed, that number plummeted. Once both groups were operating independently, the AI-assis