A group of researchers from across the US and the UK have conducted a study on what AI does to our brains and the results are, in a word, grim. These results were published in a paper called "AI assistance reduces persistence and hurts independent performance" which kind of tells you everything you need to know. “We find that AI assistance improves immediate performance, but it comes at a heavy cognitive cost,” the study declares. Researchers went on to state that just ten minutes of using AI made people dependent on the technology, which led to worsening performance and burnout once the tools were removed. The study followed people who use AI for "reasoning-intensive" cognitive labor. This refers to stuff like writing, coding and brainstorming new ideas, which are some of the most common use cases. The researchers recruited 350 Americans, who were asked to complete some fraction-based equations. Half of the participants were randomly granted access to a specialized chatbot built on OpenAI's GPT-5 for help and the others had to go it alone. Halfway through the exam, the AI group had their access cut off. This led to a steep decline in correct answers by the AI group and many instances of people simply giving up. This result, in which performance and perseverance both dropped, was repeated in a larger experiment with 670 people. Finally, the scientists performed one final experiment with reading comprehension questions, and not math. The results were more of the same. “Once the AI is taken away from people, it’s not that people are just giving wrong answers. They’re also not willing to try without AI," Rachit Dubey, an assistant professor at the University of California and coauthor of the study, told Futurism . "People’s persistence drops." Dubey went on to warn that rapid deployment of AI in the education sector could lead to a "generation of learners and people who will not know what they’re capable of, and then that will really dilute human innovation and creativity." The study likens using the technology to the "boiling frog" effect , in which "sustained AI use erodes the motivation and persistence that drive long-term learning." These effects accumulate and "by the time they are visible, they will be difficult to reverse." A recent study found that chatbots affected people’s critical thinking performance differently depending on how users engaged with the bots. https://t.co/IBbLLqrNdG — Science News (@ScienceNews) April 15, 2026 There are two caveats here. The study has yet to be peer-reviewed. Also, researchers found one tiny bright spot regarding the use of AI. People who used AI tools for hints and clarification had a much easier time once the chatbot was removed when compared to those who used the bot to essentially prompt the answers. This is just the latest study trying to get to the bottom of what AI is doing to our collective noggins. It has been found to increase fatigue among full-time workers who rely on the tools, which led to the term "AI brain fry." To that end, researchers discovered that employees who use AI actually end up working harder and longer than those old-fashioned luddites. The results are even starker in the world of education. Studies have found that AI use in school leads to poor social and intellectual development and that kids who rely on chatbots tend to do worse on tests . This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/theres-yet-another-study-about-how-bad-ai-is-for-our-brains-183418494.html?src=rss
For PlayStation Plus subscribers, April is going to be a little bit spooky, a tad sporty and extra squirrelly. PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium players will get access to The Crew Motorfest , Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered , Football Manager 26 Console , Warriors: Abyss , Squirrel with a Gun , The Casting of Frank Stone and Monster Train . Additionally, Wild Arms 4 will be exclusive to Premium libraries. Expect the full lineup to go live on April 21. The Crew Motorfest , Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered , Warriors: Abyss and Wild Arms 4 will hit PS4 and PS5 consoles, while the rest of the month's additions are PS5 only. In the case of Horizon , PS4 players will receive Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition , rather than the PS5 remaster. Horizon, The Crew and Football Manager are self-explanatory at this point in gaming history, but here's a quick rundown of the more underground titles on April's list: Warriors: Abyss is a hectic hack-and-slash roguelite from Koei Tecmo; Squirrel with a Gun is a silly yet competent third-person shooter from a two-man indie team; Monster Train is a much-loved demonic deckbuilder from Shiny Shoe and Good Shepherd Entertainment; and Wild Arms 4 is a PS2-era RPG from Japanese studio Media.Vision. The Casting of Frank Stone is what PlayStation Plus was made for, in my estimation. It comes from Supermassive, a campy-horror studio that I'm quite fond of, but it's a crossover with Dead by Daylight , a game I've never played, despite a latent interest in its vibe. For whatever reason, Frank Stone never eclipsed other titles in my to-play pile and in the harsh light of 2026, I was on the verge of forgetting all about it. Now that it's being shoved in my digital face ( complimentary ), I'm ready to give it a go. And who knows, maybe it'll be a gateway into the rich world of Dead by Daylight . Most of the games on this month's list can fit this description to some degree — minus the Dead by Daylight hook, unless you really squint at Monster Train — so it feels like a quality batch. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/playstation-plus-april-catalog-adds-include-horizon-remastered-squirrel-with-a-gun-and-frank-stone-194534366.html?src=rss
