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Cognitive debt: are AI tools making you worse at thinking?
Cognitive debt is what happens when AI tools do your thinking instead of supporting it and the research is now proving it costs you more than you realise.
In this episode of Human × Intelligent, I walk through what the science actually says about AI tools and critical thinking, share a practical framework for structuring your thinking before you open any tool and give you three concrete practices for keeping your judgment intact.
MIT Media Lab's 2025 study 'Your Brain on ChatGPT' found that people who relied on AI for cognitive tasks showed up to 55% weaker brain connectivity and 83% were unable to recall what they had just produced. Harvard Business School and BCG's study of 758 knowledge workers found that using AI on the wrong type of task makes your output 19% worse and highly skilled professionals couldn't tell which tasks those were. Microsoft Research (CHI 2025) found that higher confidence in AI is directly associated with less critical thinking.
This is not an argument against AI tools. It is a framework for using them without losing your judgment.
What's covered in this episode:
→ The cognitive debt research MIT, Harvard/BCG, Microsoft and what it means for product people
→ The goal, problem, process
→ The three thinking modes: capture, synthesise, decide and which tool belongs in each
→ Think first, mode check, own your conclusion: 3 daily practices for keeping your thinking sharp
→ Why the tools will keep changing and the process is what stays with you
The tools will change but the process is yours.
Connect with Madalena:
🌐 humanxintelligent.com
📸 Instagram: @designwithmaddie
📸 Instagram: @humanxintelligent
💼 linkedin.com/in/madalenafigueirasdacosta
💼 linkedin.com/company/human-x-intelligent
Support the show
🎙️ Human × Intelligent - a podcast about trust, transparency and human agency in AI systems, for product designers, PMs and founders building with AI.
🔔 Subscribe so you don't miss the next episode
🌐 humanxintelligent.com
Hosted by Madalena Costa · Senior product designer and AI systems strategist
View all episodes
By Madalena CostaCognitive debt is what happens when AI tools do your thinking instead of supporting it and the research is now proving it costs you more than you realise.
In this episode of Human × Intelligent, I walk through what the science actually says about AI tools and critical thinking, share a practical framework for structuring your thinking before you open any tool and give you three concrete practices for keeping your judgment intact.
MIT Media Lab's 2025 study 'Your Brain on ChatGPT' found that people who relied on AI for cognitive tasks showed up to 55% weaker brain connectivity and 83% were unable to recall what they had just produced. Harvard Business School and BCG's study of 758 knowledge workers found that using AI on the wrong type of task makes your output 19% worse and highly skilled professionals couldn't tell which tasks those were. Microsoft Research (CHI 2025) found that higher confidence in AI is directly associated with less critical thinking.
This is not an argument against AI tools. It is a framework for using them without losing your judgment.
What's covered in this episode:
→ The cognitive debt research MIT, Harvard/BCG, Microsoft and what it means for product people
→ The goal, problem, process
→ The three thinking modes: capture, synthesise, decide and which tool belongs in each
→ Think first, mode check, own your conclusion: 3 daily practices for keeping your thinking sharp
→ Why the tools will keep changing and the process is what stays with you
The tools will change but the process is yours.
Connect with Madalena:
🌐 humanxintelligent.com
📸 Instagram: @designwithmaddie
📸 Instagram: @humanxintelligent
💼 linkedin.com/in/madalenafigueirasdacosta
💼 linkedin.com/company/human-x-intelligent
Support the show
🎙️ Human × Intelligent - a podcast about trust, transparency and human agency in AI systems, for product designers, PMs and founders building with AI.
🔔 Subscribe so you don't miss the next episode
🌐 humanxintelligent.com
Hosted by Madalena Costa · Senior product designer and AI systems strategist