I use ChatGPT every day. Am I getting dumber?
In the column series 'What if...,' Elcke Vels explores intriguing scenarios that deviate from the status quo.
Published on September 27, 2025
Our DATA+ expert, Elcke Vels, explores AI, cyber security, and Dutch innovation. Her "What if..." column imagines bold scenarios beyond the norm.
Brainstorming, rewriting sentences, or finding inspiration: I use ChatGPT every day. However, to be honest, it sometimes makes me feel insecure. Doesn't all that convenience make me less sharp? What I propose is a ChatGPT-free day. Once a week, for everyone. That it becomes as normal as a Daddy Day or a Leftovers Day.
It's wonderful, all that convenience provided by ChatGPT, Grok, and Claude. Suddenly, there are no more typos on LinkedIn! But every great innovation has a downside. Research shows that students who regularly rely on AI have experienced a decline in their brain activity, language, and thinking skills. Convenience seems smart, but it secretly undermines our abilities.
And that's quite a thing. 800 million people use ChatGPT every week. I'm one of them. I use it as an idea machine for my columns: “Name ten topics that would fit my series.” Or I command: “Sharpen this sentence.” Often sloppily typed too—he'll understand anyway.
I'm concerned, especially after a recent interview with two AI experts. They pointed out a well-known phenomenon: use it or lose it. It originally comes from neurology. Our brains form and maintain connections only when we use them. If we don't practice, they deteriorate; if we don't think, our cognitive abilities decline. The idea is simple but powerful. Those who don't activate their brains gradually lose the ability to solve complex problems, reason logically, or be creative.
Relying too much on AI also nibbles away at your thinking skills. That's what the above research shows. There are plenty of examples from my own experience. One of the AI experts, Jos van Dongen, shared an anecdote: "Recently, I was configuring a server environment with colleagues. Everything was going smoothly until the system suddenly crashed. What happened? My colleague blindly followed the instructions of an AI assistant, which were incorrect.“ Perhaps that is the paradox of our time. We have tools that clearly help us move forward, but at the same time make us 'dumber' if we are not careful.
A ChatGPT-free day
Does that mean I belong to the group of people who claim that AI should never be used and only causes misery? No, absolutely not. Because it does a lot of good. What I am considering now is an AI-free day. One day a week. Just like a Daddy Day or a Leftovers Day, it would become normal in society. Would it help?
Then I have to accept the consequences. Suppose my ChatGPT-free day falls on Thursday. That means that on Thursdays:
- sentences are sometimes less sharp;
- translations take longer because there is no longer an AI translation machine;
- I occasionally have writer's block—something I also encountered before ChatGPT, staring at a blank page. Here we go again...;
- it takes more time to look up general information, such as statistics or regulations.
This list sounds like a series of inconveniences, but maybe it's not. Yes, the translations are slow, but I'm keeping my English sharp. Writer's block? That simply means my brain needs to search for new connections. That doesn't sound so bad. The further I get with writing this column, the more I convince myself of my own idea.
I can hear you thinking. Yes, I used ChatGPT to refine a number of sentences in this column. But hey, it's Wednesday, not Thursday!
