But the reaction to a recent episode about artificial intelligence was different.<\/p>\n
I had interviewed Tim Requarth<\/a>, a neuroscientist at New York University who studies how AI affects cognition and education. We were trying to understand what happens when a tool becomes capable of participating in thinking itself. Among other things, we discussed whether relying on AI to reduce the effort of thinking might come with hidden costs.<\/p>\n Some listeners objected to the premise. Calling that dependence on AI \u201caddictive,\u201d they said, was alarmist. Others insisted AI was too useful to question.<\/p>\n \t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\tVoice-first chatbots will exacerbate AI\u2019s mental health threat<\/a><\/p>\n What struck me wasn\u2019t who was right. It was how familiar the conversation felt.<\/p>\n In addiction medicine, this pattern appears whenever a powerful and effective substance becomes widely available. Early on, the benefits are obvious. Opioids relieve pain. Benzodiazepines relieve anxiety. Alcohol relieves social inhibition. For many people, these tools genuinely help.<\/p>\n Addiction rarely begins with harm. It begins with relief.<\/p>\n What Tim described didn\u2019t sound like intoxication. It sounded quieter: people gradually relying on AI to reduce the discomfort of thinking.<\/p>\n Students told Tim that they began by using it to improve grammar, then to clarify ideas, then to generate outlines. Eventually, some used it to prepare for conversations, presentations, or decisions. Several said they felt uneasy about how much they relied on it. They wanted to use it less. But they found themselves returning to it anyway.<\/p>\n As a psychiatrist, I recognize that moment \u2014 not as proof of addiction, but as an early warning sign: when someone begins to doubt their ability to function without help.<\/p>\n That may sound similar to concerns about social media addiction. But AI is different in the kind of relief it provides.<\/p>\n Social media captures attention by exploiting social reward \u2014 approval, outrage, belonging. Its effects are external. You\u2019re reacting to other people.<\/p>\n AI, by contrast, operates internally. It organizes your thoughts. It resolves uncertainty. It reduces the strain of not knowing what to say or how to begin.<\/p>\n That strain is uncomfortable. But it is also essential.<\/p>\n Writing is not just a way to communicate knowledge. It is a way to develop it. Explaining something forces clarity. Decision-making strengthens judgment. Conversation builds emotional awareness. These processes shape the brain through use.<\/p>\n When we consistently outsource them, we risk weakening them.<\/p>\n Neuroscientists have long understood that unused abilities diminish over time. GPS makes navigation easier, but many people have lost their sense of direction. Calculators make arithmetic effortless, but fewer people rely on mental math.<\/p>\n AI extends this dynamic into more intimate territory: judgment, creativity, and communication.<\/p>\n None of this makes AI harmful in itself. It is, in many ways, extraordinary. It allows people to access expertise they could not otherwise afford. It helps patients understand medical information. It assists clinicians in processing complex data. It reduces barriers that once excluded people from education and opportunity.<\/p>\n I use AI every day, including in editing this article.<\/p>\n The challenge is to use it without allowing it to quietly replace capacities we value.<\/p>\n Addiction medicine offers a useful framework. Many people use substances without developing addiction. The difference often lies in patterns of use and the role the substance plays in someone\u2019s life. When something becomes the primary way a person manages discomfort \u2014 emotional or cognitive \u2014 risk increases.<\/p>\n AI can easily become that kind of solution.<\/p>\n \t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AdobeStock_235666984-768x432.jpeg\")
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