AI may not make us stupid, but relying on it could weaken the skills built through practice

The worry of becoming stupid isn't new; it dates back to the time of the Greek philosopher Socrates, who insisted that writing would destroy memory and weaken the mind. Then came calculators, GPS and computers, all of which again raised concerns that we might forget basic mental skills and lose the battle against cognitive offloading. Cognitive offloading is the act of reducing mental effort by using external tools or aids to handle tasks that have historically relied solely on memory or internal processing. A similar sentiment is being observed with the advent of AI.