As the use of artificial intelligence increases, a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggested that ChatGPT use can harm the ability to think critically over time.

Researchers at MIT's Media Lab separated 54 study participants into three groups and asked them to write several SAT essays. One group used OpenAI's ChatGPT, one used the Google search engine and one – dubbed the "brain-only" group – used nothing at all. Each writer's brain activity was monitored across 32 regions by electroencephalography.

The study found that the participants who used ChatGPT over a few months "consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels" and had the lowest levels of brain engagement, while the "brain-only" group showed the "strongest, wide-ranging networks."

The group that used the Google search engine reportedly had moderate brain engagement.

In the beginning of the study, the ChatGPT group used the "large language model" to ask structural questions for their essay, but toward the end, participants got lazier with each essay and were more likely to outright copy-and-paste.

The findings suggest that using LLMs can actually harm an individual's cognitive function, especially for younger users.

While the study has not yet been peer-reviewed and its sample size is relatively small, lead researcher Nataliya Kosmyna told Time magazine that she thought it was important to release the findings to highlight the risks LLMs pose to long-term brain development.

"What really motivated me to put it out now before waiting for a full peer review is that I am afraid in six to eight months, there will be some policymaker who decides, Let's do GPT kindergarten. I think that would be absolutely bad and detrimental," Kosmyna said. "Developing brains are at the highest risk."

The study comes as teachers grapple with the role of AI in the classroom and the idea of using AI in education picks up steam in policymaking circles.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April designed to promote AI literacy and proficiency among American students.

"The basic idea of this executive order is to ensure that we properly train the workforce of the future by ensuring that school children, young Americans, are adequately trained in AI tools, so that they can be competitive in the economy years from now into the future, as AI becomes a bigger and bigger deal," White House staff secretary Will Scharf said at the time.

It also comes as a new Gallup Poll shows that the number of people who are using AI in the workplace has nearly doubled in the past two years.