--- title: Sam Altman’s underrated AI fear: that we stop thinking... description: Sam Altman has identified "cognitive atrophy" as an underappreciated AI risk — the concern that people will offload so much thinking to AI tools that their own... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/sam-altman-s-underrated-ai-fear-that-we-stop-thinking-for-ourselves-5htl6g0yu twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Sam Altman’s underrated AI fear: that we stop thinking for ourselves | daily.dev og:description: Sam Altman has identified "cognitive atrophy" as an underappreciated AI risk — the concern that people will offload so much thinking to AI tools that their own... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/sam-altman-s-underrated-ai-fear-that-we-stop-thinking-for-ourselves-5htl6g0yu og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/5HtL6G0YU.png og:image:alt: Sam Altman’s underrated AI fear: that we stop thinking for ourselves og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Sam Altman’s underrated AI fear: that we stop thinking for ourselves **[The Next Web](https://daily.dev/sources/tnw)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Sam Altman has identified "cognitive atrophy" as an underappreciated AI risk — the concern that people will offload so much thinking to AI tools that their own mental capabilities weaken over time. He raised the issue on the podcast "Invest Like the Best," framing it as a discipline problem rather than an apocalyptic one. Research from MIT supports the worry: people who used generative AI to write essays performed worse over time than those who used Google or no assistance. Neuroscientist Vivienne Ming warns that habitual "chronic substitution" of cognitive work to AI could erode the brain's defenses against dementia. Altman acknowledges the tension inherent in his position — OpenAI is actively pushing AI deeper into daily life while he warns about over-reliance. He also noted that human judgment remains something AI deeply struggles to replicate, though he stopped short of promising AI use will ultimately be net positive for human cognition. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is cognitive atrophy in the context of AI use, according to Sam Altman? Cognitive atrophy is Sam Altman's term for the risk that people let AI do so much thinking for them that their own mental abilities weaken over time. He raised it as an underappreciated risk on the podcast 'Invest Like the Best,' framing it as a question of how to keep 'stretching our brains' while using AI tools rather than as an apocalyptic threat. _Anyone weighing how much to offload to AI tools can follow this debate as it develops on daily.dev._ ### Is there research showing AI use makes people worse at thinking tasks? Yes, MIT researcher Nataliya Kosmyna ran a preliminary study finding that people who used generative AI to write essays performed worse over time compared to those who used Google search or no assistance at all. She described AI as unprecedented in offering people the chance to let their thinking be done for them entirely. _Developers evaluating AI writing and research tools can track findings like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [We Are Building Minds That Think. We Are Losing Minds That Feel.](https://daily.dev/posts/we-are-building-minds-that-think-we-are-losing-minds-that-feel--7w1nto89g) · Medium · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [AI doesn’t need to replace humans to weaken human capability](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-doesn-t-need-to-replace-humans-to-weaken-human-capability-296acecsh) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [How Outsourcing Your Thinking is Quietly Ruining Your Mind](https://daily.dev/posts/how-outsourcing-your-thinking-is-quietly-ruining-your-mind-pqrm0qvdp) · Medium · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [AI Is Making It Too Easy to Avoid Thinking](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-is-making-it-too-easy-to-avoid-thinking-9vqjbcvmy) · DEV · 32 upvotes · 4 comments --- Tags: [#ai](https://daily.dev/tags/ai), [#openai](https://daily.dev/tags/openai), [#chatgpt](https://daily.dev/tags/chatgpt) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/sam-altman-s-underrated-ai-fear-that-we-stop-thinking-for-ourselves-5htl6g0yu) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Sam Altman’s underrated AI fear: that we stop thinking for ourselves","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/sam-altman-s-underrated-ai-fear-that-we-stop-thinking-for-ourselves-5htl6g0yu","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/sam-altman-s-underrated-ai-fear-that-we-stop-thinking-for-ourselves-5htl6g0yu"},"datePublished":"2026-07-30T14:05:44.682Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T20:32:09.939Z","description":"Sam Altman has identified \"cognitive atrophy\" as an underappreciated AI risk — the concern that people will offload so much thinking to AI tools that their own...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/f7dae5ec70a4e9d6ef22399a5ae9350e?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/f7dae5ec70a4e9d6ef22399a5ae9350e?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Next Web","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Next Web","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/tnw","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/sam-altman-s-underrated-ai-fear-that-we-stop-thinking-for-ourselves-5htl6g0yu","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"ai,openai,chatgpt","timeRequired":"PT4M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Next Web","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Sam Altman’s underrated AI fear: that we stop thinking for ourselves"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/sam-altman-s-underrated-ai-fear-that-we-stop-thinking-for-ourselves-5htl6g0yu#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is cognitive atrophy in the context of AI use, according to Sam Altman?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Cognitive atrophy is Sam Altman's term for the risk that people let AI do so much thinking for them that their own mental abilities weaken over time. 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