RESEARCH · RESEARCH · #2032
MIT’s Eric So publishes The Collision, warning AI use may erode human thinking
MIT professor Eric So’s new book, The Collision: What AI Does to Us (W.W. Norton), synthesizes research and personal observations arguing that widespread, heavy reliance on AI can cause cognitive atrophy — reducing learning, memory retention, and problem‑solving stamina — and highlights systemic incentives that push people to outsource thinking. So draws on academic studies and industry analyses (including an Anthropic study on student queries) and calls for attention to how AI reshapes individual cognition and social norms.
KEY POINTS
- MIT professor Eric So’s new book, The Collision: What AI Does to Us (W.W.
- Norton), synthesizes research and personal observations arguing that widespread, heavy reliance on AI can cause cognitive atrophy — reducing learning, memory retention, and problem‑solving stamina — and highlights systemic incentives that push people to outsource thinking.
- So draws on academic studies and industry analyses (including an Anthropic study on student queries) and calls for attention to how AI reshapes individual cognition and social norms.
WHY IT MATTERS
This matters because if So is correct, widespread AI adoption could impair learning and decision‑making at scale, raising implications for education, workplace incentives, and policy.