You Were Right, Using AI And Social Media Causes Brain Rot
Techstrong.ai, Friday, November 7th, 2025
It's always fun when you were kind of right about something, carrying a suspicion in your gut for years, and then someone - in this case, a shiny article in The New York Times - comes along and says: 'Hey, Alan, you weren't wrong.'
The headline screams a bold truth: When we lean too heavily on AI and social media, our brains begin to atrophy. The article argues the same - that replacing Google search-style, human-driven inquiry with generative AI answers and echo-chamber scrolling is wrecking our ability to think, learn, debate and judge for ourselves.
Now, don't get me wrong: I'm a dyed-in-the-wool techno-optimist. I help lead a media and advisory organization built on tech, research and insight. But I also have a board-president mentality (hello, my HOA neighbors). I see what happens when convenience becomes a crutch, when the expectation is 'get the answer now' rather than 'go figure how to find the answer.' So yes - let's acknowledge it: Using AI and social media does rot the brain.