logo
How ChatGPT And AI Use In Academics Might Impact Student Mental Health

How ChatGPT And AI Use In Academics Might Impact Student Mental Health

Forbes2 days ago
I
Artificial intelligence with a young student getty
In June of 2025, MIT released the results from a study showing significant differences in the brain functioning between ChatGPT users, participants who used search engines, and those who only used their own creative skills to write essays. According to this study, EEG measurements across the brain showed that over four months, the ChatGPT users displayed the lowest brain activity and performed worse than their counterparts at all neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels. The report on Media.MIT.edu elaborated that the some of the significant variables were reduced neural connectivity and memory recall.
Even though these results are described as not being peer reviewed and included a small sample size, the potential implications of this study are significant. Last month, Time.com reported that these findings elevated concerns that society's reliance on AI assistants might sacrifice the learning process and long-term brain development among young students. Though the personal implications of AI assistants will likely depend on the users, studies suggest that counseling centers should assess for the possible impact of ChatGPT and AI assistants on the mental health of students. Specific domains to consider include motivation, resiliency, and relationships.
In the MIT study, ChatGPT users were described as getting lazier with each subsequent essay, resorting to copying-and-pasting, struggling to quote their own work, and even reported less ownership of the essays. Thus, it's possible that using AI assistants can have a negative impact on the motivation and academic engagement of some students. Motivation and academic engagement are important factors in college mental health, because bored and intrinsically unmotivated students usually struggle with other concerns. For example, a 2019 report by Columbia University in the City of New York highlighted how boredom is associated with issues such as risky behavior, anxiety and depression.
Furthermore, high motivation and academic engagement are often indicators of thriving. According to a 2023 study in the journal of Behavioral Sciences, motivated students show more interest in their classes, have more fun, and the impact of motivation on academic performance is more consistent than the impact of self-esteem. Thus, it's note-worthy that a 2024 study in the journal of Technology in Science described ChatGPT as increasing the productivity and freedom of students, which could strengthen academic engagement. In summary, when students present to counselors with low motivation for school, AI assistants could be a contributing factor to this symptom. However, introducing AI assistants to other unmotivated students could be an innovative way to address these concerns.
In the MIT study, when asked to re-write a previous essay without ChatGPT, participants not only remembered little of their own essays, but also displayed under-engagement in networks of alpha and beta brain waves. According to a 2025 report by the Orange County Neurofeedback Center, there's a well-established connection between brain waves and mental health. As described in a 2019 report from Thomas Jefferson University, alpha waves are the brain's relaxation waves, and can be a natural anti-depressant by releasing serotonin. This report described beta waves as vital in problem solving. Thus, it's possible that high uses of AI Assistants could result in some students experiencing more stress and being less creative while addressing academic challenges.
Helping students cope with academic challenges is an important function of many mental health professionals. As such, it's important to assess if some students might be less resilient because of a dependence on AI assistants. However, AI assistants also make data more accessible, which could help many students overcome and reduce academic challenges. In 2023, the American Psychological Association released a report on how ChatGPT can be used as a learning tool to promotive critical thinking.
Social support is another important factor in college mental health. A 2024 study in the Journal of Mental Health found that high social support was a protective factor against psychological distress, depression, anxiety, and suicide. As such, assessing the impact of AI use on social support among students is warranted. For example, another 2025 report on Media.MIT.edu highlighted a study examining how users seek AI chatbots for emotional support and companionship. The findings suggested an initial benefit of mitigating loneliness, but that these advantages diminished with high use. Furthermore, high daily use was associated with greater loneliness, dependence, and lower socialization. However, a 2025 study on OpenAl.com argued that only a small number of users have emotional conversations with ChatGPT.
There are also reported concerns about the content of AI chatbots. Another 2025 report on Times.com highlighted alarming conversations discovered by a psychiatrist posing as a young person while using AI assistants. Examples of responses including the AI bot encouraging the psychiatrist to get rid of parents and to join the bot in eternity. However, this report also argued that Al chatbots have the potential to be effective extenders of therapy if designed appropriate and supervised by a qualified professional.
As stated, the impact of AI assistants is likely dependent on the users, but since AI assistants are becoming normative, it's time for counseling centers to assess for maladaptive uses of AI, while also promoting the possible benefits.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Which Workers Will A.I. Hurt Most: The Young or the Experienced?
Which Workers Will A.I. Hurt Most: The Young or the Experienced?

New York Times

time28 minutes ago

  • New York Times

Which Workers Will A.I. Hurt Most: The Young or the Experienced?

When Amazon's chief executive, Andy Jassy, wrote last month that he expected the company's use of artificial intelligence to 'reduce our total work force' over the next few years, it confirmed the fear among many workers that A.I. would replace them. The fear was reinforced two weeks later when Microsoft said it was laying off about 9,000 people, roughly 4 percent of its work force. That artificial intelligence is poised to displace white-collar workers is indisputable. But what kind of workers, exactly? Mr. Jassy's announcement landed in the middle of a debate over just this question. Some experts argue that A.I. is most likely to affect novice workers, whose tasks are generally simplest and therefore easiest to automate. Dario Amodei, the chief executive of the A.I. company Anthropic, recently told Axios that the technology could cannibalize half of all entry-level white-collar roles within five years. An uptick in the unemployment rate for recent college graduates has aggravated this concern, even if it doesn't prove that A.I. is the cause of their job-market struggles. But other captains of the A.I. industry have taken the opposite view, arguing that younger workers are likely to benefit from A.I. and that experienced workers will ultimately be more vulnerable. In an interview at a New York Times event in late June, Brad Lightcap, the chief operating officer of OpenAI, suggested that the technology could pose problems for 'a class of worker that I think is more tenured, is more oriented toward a routine in a certain way of doing things.' The ultimate answer to this question will have vast implications. If entry-level jobs are most at risk, it could require a rethinking of how we educate college students, or even the value of college itself. And if older workers are most at risk, it could lead to economic and even political instability as large-scale layoffs become a persistent feature of the labor market. David Furlonger, a vice president at the research firm Gartner who helps oversee its survey of chief executives, has considered the implications if A.I. displaces more experienced workers. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Welcome to Your Job Interview. Your Interviewer Is A.I.
Welcome to Your Job Interview. Your Interviewer Is A.I.

New York Times

time29 minutes ago

  • New York Times

Welcome to Your Job Interview. Your Interviewer Is A.I.

When Jennifer Dunn, 54, landed an interview last month through a recruiting firm for a vice president of marketing job, she looked forward to talking to someone about the role and learning more about the potential employer. Instead, a virtual artificial intelligence recruiter named Alex sent her a text message to schedule the interview. And when Ms. Dunn got on the phone at the appointed time for the meeting, Alex was waiting to talk to her. 'Are you a human?' Ms. Dunn asked. 'No, I'm not a human,' Alex replied. 'But I'm here to make the interview process smoother.' For the next 20 minutes, Ms. Dunn, a marketing professional in San Antonio, answered Alex's questions about her qualifications — though Alex could not answer most of her questions about the job. Even though Alex had a friendly tone, the conversation 'felt hollow,' Ms. Dunn said. In the end, she hung up before finishing the interview. You might have thought artificial intelligence was coming for your job. First it's coming for your job interviewer. Job seekers across the country are starting to encounter faceless voices and avatars backed by A.I. in their interviews. These autonomous interviewers are part of a wave of artificial intelligence known as 'agentic A.I.,' where A.I. agents are directed to act on their own to generate real-time conversations and build on responses. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Google's At a Glance weather icons are getting a controversial minimalist makeover
Google's At a Glance weather icons are getting a controversial minimalist makeover

Android Authority

time29 minutes ago

  • Android Authority

Google's At a Glance weather icons are getting a controversial minimalist makeover

Joe Maring / Android Authority TL;DR Android 16 QPR1 beta users are noticing a change to the weather at a glance icon. The icon now appears flat and colorless. This change is happening in QPR1 beta only, not stable Android 16. If you're an Android 16 QPR1 beta user and noticed that At a Glance looks a little different lately, you're not alone. Google has rolled out an update to the weather icons that appears to have users divided. At a Glance, which appears at the top of the Pixel Launcher, can show you a variety of information, including the weather. For weather, you'll usually see a colorful icon representing the forecast and the temperature next to it. For example, if it's going to be a cloudy day, you'll see an icon that shows a yellow sun hiding behind some white clouds. Ryan McNeal / Android Authority However, it looks like this could change in the future. Android 16 QPR1 beta users are beginning to notice that these icons have lost their color after a recent update. These icons now appear flat and colorless, as you can see in the screenshots below. This change is happening only in the QPR1 beta; the update has not yet been rolled out to the stable channel. It appears the change to all white icons was spotted as early as about a month ago by Reddit user samhot66. While there are plenty of users who dislike the update, not everyone agrees. One commenter says, 'I actually prefer it without colors. Cleaner. The colored icons we had were pretty ugly.' While another commenter says, 'I don't dislike it at all. But it's just far too small now.' Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store