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We all know a lack of exercise is bad for our bodies. So what is relying on AI doing to our brains? | Devi Sridhar

When I was a postgraduate student at the University of Oxford in the early 2000s, I interviewed for a major consulting firm. All my friends were being recruited, and I thought why not give it a shot? Aside from the usual maths-proficiency test (how quickly can you crunch numbers in front of a client and look smart), I was asked about what the future of streaming could look like. I gave a long-winded answer about the unintended consequences of changing how humans interact with each other when a new technology is…

By the Truvace desk2 min read1 sourceJournalismTRV-2026-1588· cite & verify
We all know a lack of exercise is bad for our bodies. So what is relying on AI doing to our brains? | Devi Sridhar

In brief

Writing from her post at the University of Edinburgh, public health professor Devi Sridhar compares the way streaming reduced physical activity with the way reliance on AI may affect the mind. She cites a 2026 Higher Education Policy Institute survey in which nearly all undergraduates reported using generative AI, including in assessed work.

She argues this matters because mental inactivity may carry health costs similar to those of physical inactivity, including possible effects on ageing and dementia risk. The causal evidence is still thin and may take decades to emerge, so her concerns rest on linked trends and early studies rather than proven harm.

Main points

  1. A 2026 HEPI survey found 95% of undergraduates used AI in at least one way and 94% used it in assessed work.
  2. An OECD report noted student performance across member countries continued to decline, with the lowest average ever recorded for maths and reading.
  3. The OECD report links poor scores to longer screen-time, more classroom digitalisation and less reading for enjoyment.
  4. A preliminary EEG study, Your Brain on ChatGPT, found weaker brain connectivity in essay writers using gen AI.
  5. A study of over 19,000 adults over 50 linked cognitively stimulating leisure activities to lower dementia risk.

The problem

Widespread student use of generative AI in assessed work, alongside preliminary EEG evidence of weaker brain connectivity, raises concern that outsourcing thinking may erode cognition and learning over time.

The rundown

The author opens with an anecdote from a consulting interview in the early 2000s, in which she warned about the health and social consequences of streaming. She says later evidence on screen-time, isolation, anxiety, depression and sleep vindicated part of that view.

She draws a parallel with physical activity: as countries get richer, movement falls and chronic conditions such as cancers and type-2 diabetes rise. She suggests cognitive activity may follow a similar path if AI takes over core mental tasks.

To support the concern she combines the student AI-use survey, OECD attainment declines, and the preliminary EEG study with research linking mentally stimulating activities to lower dementia risk. She says these trends only allow an informed guess about AI's effect on brains, and she asks whether technology companies or society care.

Sources

  1. JournalismThe Guardian2026-09-25

The debate