MIT's Eric So warns heavy AI use can erode thinking skills in new book

MIT Sloan professor Eric So argues in his new book "The Collision: What AI Does to Us," published by W.W. Norton, that heavy AI use can lead to cognitive atrophy, as people fail to develop and retain essential thinking skills.

He cites research, including an Anthropic study finding that about half of college students' queries were low-effort requests for simple answers. So says people learn better when they struggle with material, work through failures, and keep iterating.