Blumenthal wondered if we are on the verge of a new diagnostic category of chatbot overdependence syndrome' as we head into an age in which we become increasingly reliant on AI. When used judiciously, AI aids us, but it could have disastrous consequences if we become dependent on it and lose the capacity for ordinary functioning. AI can take you down a rabbit hole, but it can also support you and help you structure your thoughts, schedule stuff and get things done
A combination of terrible (or non-existent) parenting, constantly checking phones and thus having no concentration or attention span, and most recently, the growth of AI as the answer to everything (so learning how to think for oneself or do anything for oneself is now seen as obsolete), is bringing about actual brainrot in young people. It seems to be widespread globally in the 'developed' world.
Generative AI can feel like a superpower. Along with an efficiency boost, the sheer range of help it offers, from recipes to relationship advice, is tantalizing. But there are hidden risks. AI can make things so easy that we start outsourcing attention, memory, and confidence. We rely less on our judgment, reasoning, and self-soothing when faced with a problem. I noticed this tendency in myself when I began prompting ChatGPT for possible explanations and advice for a dental problem,
Tim Metz is worried about the "Google Maps-ification" of his mind. Just as many people have come to rely on GPS apps to get around, the 44-year-old content marketer fears that he is becoming dependent on AI. He told me that he uses AI for up to eight hours each day, and he's become particularly fond of Anthropic's Claude. Sometimes, he has as many as six sessions running simultaneously. He consults AI for marriage and parenting advice, and when he goes grocery shopping, he takes photos of the fruits to ask if they are ripe. Recently, he was worried that a large tree near his house might come down, so he uploaded photographs of it and asked the bot for advice. Claude suggested that Metz sleep elsewhere in case the tree fell, so he and his family spent that night at a friend's. Without Claude's input, he said, "I would have never left the house." (The tree never came down, though some branches did.)