Does using ChatGPT make you worse at thinking? What does the research actually say?

It depends on how you use it, and the warning signs are real. An MIT Media Lab preprint followed 54 people writing essays: those using ChatGPT showed the weakest brain connectivity and struggled to quote their own essays. A Microsoft survey of 319 knowledge workers found that the more they trusted the AI, the less critical thinking they reported. Anthropic's coding trial found lower mastery when people handed the work over, but not when they asked questions. India's Economic Survey 2025-26 cited the MIT and Microsoft work in warning about over-reliance. These are small or early studies, not proof of lasting harm. The practical reading, as Ethan Mollick puts it: think first, write first, then bring AI in to question your work.