Make space for your mind
Attention, recovery, and clear thinking for people whose work is changing fast with AI.
Topics
- AI and Attention
- Context Switching & Cognitive Load
- Digital Boundaries
- Independent Thinking in the Age of AI
- Mindful Technology Use
- Creative Time Without AI
- Rest, Recovery & Everyday Wellbeing
Practices
- Light topic discussions
- Phone-free walks
- Quiet reading
- Independent-thinking exercises
- Research sharing and discussion
Try an AI-off hour
Once a week, put AI and your phone away for an hour. Walk, read, think, or talk to someone. It isn't about AI being bad; it's about remembering what your own mind can do. Some of our sessions run this way, together.
MIND sessions are educational and focused on everyday wellbeing. They are not therapy or medical care, and we don't diagnose or treat any condition. When we cite research, we keep it separate from personal experience.
Results, responses, responsibility
A simple check for using AI without handing over your thinking.
- 1
Results
AI gives you results: fast, fluent, and sometimes wrong. On their own, they carry no meaning.
- 2
Responses
A result becomes a response when you question it, check it, and decide what it means.
- 3
Responsibility
Choosing what matters, and owning that choice, stays with you. That effort is what keeps your mind strong.
Adapted from the 3R principle in Rossi, Fraccaro & Manzotti (2026), npj Artificial Intelligence.
What the research says
This field is young. Many findings are self-reported, some are not yet peer reviewed, and none of this is medical advice. We label each source so you can judge it for yourself.
- Survey
Among 319 knowledge workers, more confidence in generative AI went with less critical thinking, while more confidence in their own abilities went with more.
Lee, H.-P. et al. (2025). The impact of generative AI on critical thinking. CHI '25.
- Systematic review
Across 14 studies, students' over-reliance on AI chatbots was linked to weaker decision-making, critical thinking, and analytical reasoning.
Zhai, C., Wibowo, S. & Li, L. D. (2024). Smart Learning Environments, 11, 28.
- Survey
Heavier AI tool use was associated with lower critical-thinking scores, largely through cognitive offloading. Younger participants were most affected.
- Experiments
In seven experiments with over 10,000 people, learning from AI summaries led to shallower knowledge than doing a web search, even with the same facts.
Melumad, S. & Yun, J. H. (2025). PNAS Nexus, 4, pgaf316.
- Observational study
After AI assistance was introduced, doctors' detection rate for precancerous growths during unassisted colonoscopies fell from 28.4% to 22.4% within three months.
Budzyń, K. et al. (2025). The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 10(10), 896–903.
- Preprint, not yet peer reviewed
People writing essays with an AI assistant showed weaker brain connectivity on EEG than those using a search engine or no tools.
- Commentary
Argues that passive reliance on AI may weaken the brain's use-it-or-lose-it plasticity, while active co-creation can sustain it.
Rossi, S., Fraccaro, V. & Manzotti, R. (2026). npj Artificial Intelligence, 2, 15.
- Overview
Researchers increasingly agree the question is less whether we use AI than how: passive use can erode skills, deliberate use can strengthen them.
Abrams, Z. (2026). How AI is reshaping human skills and thinking. Monitor on Psychology, 57(5).