Even brief AI use could hurt your ability to think, a new study finds

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon, MIT, Oxford, and UCLA found that even about 10 minutes of AI chatbot help can reduce persistence and problem-solving once the tool is removed.

In basic task tests, people who relied on the chatbot were more likely to give up or answer incorrectly after losing access to it.

The results suggest that direct-answer AI tools may encourage cognitive offloading and weaken active thinking in the short term.

The study raises questions about how AI assistants should be designed and used in education and workplace settings.