Before the era of generative artificial intelligence (AI), students went to extreme lengths to cheat on assignments, often learning parts of the subject matter in the process.
People found ways to roll cheat sheets into their pens, write answers in microscopic font on their fingernails or even create elaborate communication systems between each other to share answers during a test.
Now with access to a surplus of information, students gain no knowledge from the slew of word vomit given to them by AI chatbots. Times when students would have learned valuable skills from strategically planning their plagiarism, are now replaced with a lower reward for the same risk.
While there isn’t definitive evidence that students learned ‘more’ from past methods of cheating, there is proof of AI weakening our critical thinking, and leading to the overall decline in quality of assignments submitted.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) conducted a study in the first half of 2025 where they observed the electroencephalography (EEG) of participants while using varying levels of assistance in writing essays.
MIT’s study found that participants who used only their own thinking had the strongest connections seen in the scans.
“Brain-only participants exhibited the strongest, most distributed networks; Search Engine users showed moderate engagement; and LLM [Large Language Model] users displayed the weakest connectivity,” MIT reports.
This lack of cognitive activity is taking a toll on students’ performance.
Some could argue that previous methods of cheating required more creativity and problem-solving skills, often requiring multiple steps and preparation. MIT’s study highlights this topic in their comparison between groups in EEG analysis. “The richer connectivity of Brain-only group may reflect a cognitive state akin to that of high performers in creative or memory tasks.”
With students relying on AI to think for them, they lose their creativity and ability to memorize.
Personally, I’ve noticed the spike in AI use in many of my classes. It becomes increasingly obvious who stays up finishing their mediocre essay they wrote while half asleep, and who took the easy way out. Some students don’t even attempt to do their own work before opening a generative AI platform, which is a big change from the days of having to physically copy information.
“We demonstrate the pressing matter of a likely decrease in learning skills based on the results of our study,” MIT states. “The use of LLM had a measurable impact on participants, and while the benefits were initially apparent … The LLM group’s participants performed worse than their counterparts in the Brain-only group at all levels: neural, linguistic, scoring.”
With the accessibility of AI, it’s important we remember the toll it takes not only on the environment or the job market, but on our brains as well. Academic dishonesty is always frowned upon, but it is even worse when none of your own thoughts are involved in the process.
So the next time you think of resorting to ChatGPT, consider that extended use of it may hinder your ability to do your own work in the future.
