AI makes you more creative. Until you stop.
Researchers analysed 419,000 academic papers to study the cognitive impact of using LLMs.
The short-term result is exactly what you’d expect: Writers using AI produced more work, faster.
But the long-term finding is a warning shot. When the researchers asked the subjects to complete a task without the AI, their creativity didn’t just return to baseline. It dropped below it.
The researchers call it a “creativity scar.”
By outsourcing the messy, frustrating struggle of blank pages and dead ends, we atrophy the cognitive muscles required for original thought. The friction is where the magic happens.
If we treat AI as an exoskeleton, it makes us stronger. If we treat it as a wheelchair, we forget how to walk.
The challenge for leaders isn’t just deploying the tools; it’s designing workflows that protect the human struggle required for true ingenuity.
