Are AI Chatbots Eroding Our Cognitive Control? A Psychologist's Warning

This week at SXSW London, amidst the vibrant mix of music and film, the pervasive topic of artificial intelligence dominated discussions. I had the privilege of sitting down with Gloria Mark, a distinguished psychologist from the University of California, Irvine, whose three decades of research have focused on the intricate ways humans interact with digital technologies. Early in her career, concerns revolved around the internet and email's impact on our brains, anxieties that now seem quaint. However, Mark posits that these early worries were prescient, setting the stage for more profound challenges. The title of our session, "Have we lost control of our brains?", was met with a stark, unsettling answer from Mark: "Yes." Mark's journey into understanding our diminishing attention spans began two decades ago. Through "living laboratories" utilizing sensors and trackers, she meticulously monitored adult volunteers' attention, mood, and behavior while using devices. Her findings paint a troubling picture of cognitive decline. In 2003, the average user could maintain focus for approximately two and a half minutes. By 2012, this had plummeted to a mere 75 seconds. The most recent data, collected between 2014 and 2020, revealed an alarming further reduction to an average of just 47 seconds. This constant switching of attention, Mark explains, is not benign; it's a significant source of stress, directly correlating with elevated heart rates, and severely hampers our ability to complete tasks efficiently, negatively impacting both performance and emotional well-being. The discussion naturally extended to the complex effects of social media, particularly on younger generations. Recent high-profile lawsuits against tech giants like Meta and Google's YouTube highlight the growing concern over addictive product design, with a 20-year-old woman and numerous school districts seeking damages for mental health issues. Yet, Mark emphasizes that the evidence regarding social media's overall impact on children remains inconclusive. While some surveys reveal spaces of rejection and fear, others, like a 2024 study of LGBTQ+ teenagers, show social media as a vital platform for belonging, friendship, and identity cultivation for marginalized groups. Mark calls for large, long-term studies, citing Australia's recent social media ban for under-16s as a potential source of crucial data. Turning to the burgeoning field of AI, Mark expressed profound worry. She introduced the concept of "depth of processing," a cognitive effort essential for learning, understanding, and retaining information. When we actively engage with content, we process it deeply. However, AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini fundamentally alter this dynamic. By asking these tools to summarize, write, or evaluate for us, we "defer our cognitive work to AI," as Mark puts it. This delegation, she warns, comes at a steep cost: the weakening of our cognitive abilities over time. Much like muscles atrophy without exercise, our minds risk losing their sharpness, potentially leading to weaker critical thinking skills and increased susceptibility to misinformation. The concerns extend beyond mere information processing to our emotional landscape. Mark highlighted the potential harm of "synthetic companions" powered by AI. Genuine human relationships demand effort—time, understanding, and emotional investment. A relationship with a "sycophantic bot," however, requires none of this. The "muscle" at risk of atrophy here is emotional intelligence, which surveys already suggest is on the decline. Mark's outlook is sobering: if current trends persist, we face a future of diminished attention spans, rising loneliness and boredom, decreasing emotional intelligence, and a dwindling sense of purpose. Despite this grim prognosis, Mark offers a glimmer of hope: we can, and must, course-correct. The crucial element, she asserts, is "effort." By consciously choosing to exert effort—whether it's reading a book thoroughly instead of just its summary, or prioritizing in-person meetings with friends over digital interactions—we can reclaim deeper satisfaction and strengthen our cognitive and emotional faculties. This conscious re-engagement with effort is key to reasserting control over our minds and shaping a healthier relationship with the technologies that increasingly define our lives.