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Does AI Cause Brain Rot? What MIT’s Viral Research Got Wrong

Anthropic wins groundbreaking ruling, Google unveils on-device AI for robots, new details on OpenAI’s first AI device and more!

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Everyday AI
June 24, 2025

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Today in Everyday AI
6 minute read

🎙 Daily Podcast Episode: MIT's viral study claims using AI like ChatGPT causes 'brain rot.' Discover why the research might miss the mark and what truly matters in AI's impact on cognition. Give it a listen.

🕵️‍♂️ Fresh Finds: Eleven Labs launches mobile app, Verizon to use Google Gemini for customers and Anthropic Claude goes no-code. Read on for Fresh Finds.

🗞 Byte Sized Daily AI News: Anthropic wins groundbreaking ruling, Google unveils on-device AI for robots and more details on OpenAI’s first AI device. For that and more, read on for Byte Sized News.

🧠 Learn & Leveraging AI: So can AI cause brain rot or it is just an exaggeration? Here’s what you need to know. Keep reading for that!

↩️ Don’t miss out: Did you miss our last newsletter? We talked about Microsoft’s on-device language model, Salesforce unveiling Agentforce 3, U.S. potentially blocking states from AI regulation and more. Check it here!

 Does AI Cause Brain Rot? What MIT’s Viral Research Got Wrong 🧠

Does AI cause brain rot?

If you read media coverage of MIT's recent viral study, you'd think yes.

Buuuuuuttt......

That study completely missed the point of AI.

Join us to figure out the truth behind the study, and how you should be using AI to make sure it's more than brain rot.

Also on the pod today:

• Media Sensationalism on ChatGPT 📢
• Effective AI Tools for Critical Thinking ⚙️
• Proper AI Usage and Brain Health 🤖

It’ll be worth your 34 minutes:

Listen on our site:

Click to listen

Subscribe and listen on your favorite podcast platform

Listen on:

Here’s our favorite AI finds from across the web:

New AI Tool Spotlight – LLMrefs is an AI SEO keyword rank tracker for LLM search engines, Querri is an AI data platform and AgentRunner is a friendly AI agent builder.

Trending in AI – Eleven Labs mobile app is now available on iOS and Android.

Google – Verizon is adopting Google Gemini AI to help customers solve complex issues.

Google has introduced AI Mode to users in India.

Anthropic – Anthropic is evolving its Claude AI assistant into a platform for creating and sharing interactive, no-code AI applications.

Business of AI – Walmart has unveiled new AI powered tools to help its associates.

AI Startups - The co-founder of Databricks and Perplexity is pledging $100M on a new fund for AI researchers.

AI Video - This AI video ad has gone viral and sparked debate on the future of advertising.

1. Judge Rules AI Training on Purchased Books Is Fair Use 🧑‍⚖️

A federal judge has made a groundbreaking ruling in favor of Anthropic, stating that training AI models on legally purchased and digitized physical books qualifies as fair use, marking a first for the AI industry. However, the court rejected Anthropic’s use of millions of pirated books from online sources, setting the stage for a separate trial on copyright infringement and damages.

This decision highlights the legal fine line AI companies must navigate when sourcing training data, potentially shaping how future AI copyright cases are judged.

2. Google Unveils Gemini Robotics On-Device for Local Robot Control 🤖️

Google DeepMind has just launched Gemini Robotics On-Device, a new language model that lets robots perform tasks locally without needing an internet connection, pushing the boundaries of autonomous robotics. Building on their March model, this upgrade allows developers to fine-tune robots' movements via natural language, offering near cloud-level performance right on the device itself.

Showcased in real-world demos like folding clothes and industrial assembly, it adapts across different robot types, signaling a leap toward more versatile and independent robotics.

3. OpenAI’s First AI Device Delayed and Rebranded Amid Trademark Clash ⚖️

OpenAI’s newly acquired hardware team from Jony Ive won’t launch its first AI device until at least 2026, and it won’t be an in-ear or wearable gadget as some speculated. This clarification surfaced during a trademark dispute with audio startup Iyo, which led OpenAI to pull public mentions of the “io” brand.

The lawsuit revealed that OpenAI executives, including Sam Altman, were aware of Iyo’s “audio computer” in-ear headphones and even requested demos. This delay and rebranding signal a cautious approach by OpenAI as it navigates product identity and market entry

4. OpenAI Eyes Microsoft Office Turf with New Collaboration Tools 🛠

OpenAI is reportedly developing new features to transform ChatGPT into a "supersmart personal assistant for work," including collaborative document editing and communication tools, according to The Information. This move signals a direct challenge to Microsoft Office and Google Workspace, potentially reshaping how professionals manage productivity and teamwork.

Alongside these tools, OpenAI plans to introduce a personal AI device, web browsing capabilities, and a social media feed for sharing ChatGPT content publicly.

5. Meta’s AI Acquisition Efforts Included Runway 👀

Meta recently explored buying AI video startup Runway but talks fizzled early. This comes as part of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s aggressive push into AI, with a $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI and attempts to acquire other startups like Safe Superintelligence and Perplexity AI.

Though Meta didn’t snag Superintelligence, its CEO and former GitHub head have joined Meta’s AI team, signaling serious talent grabs.

6. Amazon Commits $54 Billion to U.K. AI and Innovation Boost 🇬🇧

Amazon announced a massive $54 billion investment in the U.K. over the next three years, aiming to expand its AI infrastructure alongside its warehouse and e-commerce operations. This move will create thousands of new jobs and signals a strong vote of confidence in the U.K.'s growing position in AI development.

The timing is crucial as countries race to lead in AI technology, making this investment a strategic push to anchor Amazon’s influence in Europe’s innovation landscape.

🦾How You Can Leverage:

MIT researchers just burned through 206 pages to pointlessly prove people who copy-paste content from ChatGPT can't remember what they didn’t write. 

And the media (prolly) breezed through the results, wrote super sensationalized headlines about ChatGPT brainrot, and now the internet world is abuzz. 

Uggghhhhh. Facepalm. 

In short, the experiment recorded brain-network activity with a 32-channel EEG headset while participants wrote SAT-style essays under three conditions: ChatGPT, Google Search, or no tools.

MIT’s fancy 32-electrode EEG setup measured 54 participants across three groups. ChatGPT users who just copy-pasted their essays showed 55% weaker brain networks than people who actually used their heads.

Shocking absolutely no one.

So on today’s #HotTakeTuesday episode, we just tore this "groundbreaking" research apart because honestly? 

This thing deserves to be roasted like a Turkey on Thanksgiving. 

Here’s what you need to know from this viral-for-no-reason study that’s taking over the AI airwaves. 👇

1 – Copy-Paste Users Are Toast 🔥

The three-group setup unsurprisingly exposed who's building cognitive debt versus competitive advantage.

The study found 83.3% of AI users failed to quote their own finished work. Surprising absolutely no one with a bain. 

Brain-only writers got AI for the first time? Used it strategically.

ChatGPT-first users forced to think manually? Still parroting AI phrases like broken robots.

Your competitors are creating this exact problem right now. Every mindless copy-paste workflow erodes their expertise while you build augmented intelligence they can't replicate.

The gap becomes insurmountable.

When agentic AI arrives, they'll have zero expertise to guide autonomous systems. You'll be directing sophisticated AI while they're googling "how to think again."

That's market domination disguised as a research study.

Try This:

Audit your team's AI habits this week. 

Replace every copy-paste workflow with collaborative partnerships where humans lead and AI enhances. Track who's building expertise versus who's automating their brain away. 

This cognitive separation determines market position when AI gets scary good.

2 – Strategic AI Makes You Superhuman 🔥

Since this MIT study showed us nothing we didn’t already know  and the media pushed the false ‘AI brainrot’ narrative, we took a look at some reputable studies that show the actual cognitive benefit of using AI the right way. 

Microsoft proved AI thought partners enhance critical thinking. Harvard's study showed AI tutoring DOUBLED learning gains over traditional methods.

Plot twist much?

Students using AI as learning partners developed enhanced pattern recognition. Those using it to blindly automate their work? Skills went straight down the drain.

We've been teaching this in our methodology forever.

Give AI your best thinking first. Have it challenge your assumptions and identify blind spots. Then rebuild incorporating insights while keeping your voice and expertise.

Boom. Expertise amplification instead of brain replacement.

The tool-swapping group proved this instinct separates winners from losers. Strategic users stress-test thinking and explore alternatives. Lazy users just want outputs.

Try This:

Turn your next big project into an AI collaboration experiment. Start with your strongest analysis and use AI to challenge assumptions you haven't questioned. Document insights that emerge from this partnership versus flying solo.

You're building competitive intelligence while others systematically destroy theirs.

3 – Expertise Beats Automation Every Time 🔥

The study revealed who'll dominate when AI gets more autonomous.

Here's the thing: everyone talks about keeping "humans in the loop" with AI. But we need expert orchestration in the loop.

Big difference.

Passive human monitoring vs. active experts orchestration. 

When AI systems start running themselves, you'll need ACTUAL expertise to guide them properly. 

People who've been copy-pasting since early in the GenAI wave? 

Burnt toast, shorties. 

Their skills have rotted away while you've been getting stronger.

We broke down the perfect example: if you're a decent writer and just automate everything, your skills drop fast. But use AI as a thinking partner? You level up dramatically.

The brain scans proved this. People who relied on AI unsurprisingly showed 55% weaker neural connections.

Your competitors are literally making themselves dumber while you're building superhuman capabilities.

When advanced AI arrives, you'll be the expert directing powerful systems. They'll be the ones googling "how do I make this work?"

Try This:

Design expertise amplification sessions for major decisions. 

Use AI to explore scenarios you'd never consider and stress-test assumptions from multiple angles. 

Build these enhanced thinking patterns now because they become competitive moats when AI capabilities explode beyond current limits.

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