Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb is perhaps best known for raising eyebrows with public suggestions that various stellar phenomena could be evidence of extraterrestrial civilization. This is certainly controversial – but if nothing else, at least Loeb is using his brain, at a time when reliance on AI chatbots has never been higher.
In a recent essay on his personal blogThe Harvard professor lamented the mental decline among AI users in his lifetime.
“Recently, I noticed that some people around me are beginning to lose their cognitive abilities as a result of excessive use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms like ChatGPS, Cloud, or Gemini,” Loeb wrote. “This phenomenon resembles muscle loss from excessive use of public transportation as a substitute for walking. In the education world, the only reliable way to test students’ cognitive abilities right now is to put them in a Faraday cage.”
No problem, studies show that public transportation users walk tremendous amount – would be a better analog driversIn fact – Loeb is highlighting a real and growing concern by many researchers and educators.
Since the rise of AI chatbots over the past few years, there have been plenty of research papers, anecdotal evidence, and dire predictions outlining this exact phenomenon. as one 2025 study Swiss researcher Michael Gerlich found that frequent use of AI tools can impair critical thinking abilities, resulting in “cognitive costs” among human users.
As the number of AI users continues to grow, the long-term risks of systemic intellectual debt are becoming more apparent. As recent research from the Pew Research Center found, large numbers of school-age teens are using AI to do their homework, with usage heavily concentrated among minority and low-income students.
As for Loeb, he writes that the threat of such social cognitive impairment makes it important to push against the idea of AI systems as magical stand-ins for the human brain.
He said, “Assuming AI is equivalent to the beauty of the human mind is exactly like putting lipstick on a pig.” “I’m very excited about the potential for actually discovering alien intelligence from another star.”
More on AI: A large portion of high school kids are using AI to do their homework, which probably isn’t going to end well
