Is AI Making Us Dumber? (And What It Means for Your Brand)

If you’ve felt a little more distracted, a little more forgetful, or a little less capable of deep focus lately, you aren’t alone.

It feels like society used to be, well, a bit sharper. We used to navigate without GPS. We used to read long articles without reaching for our phones every 30 seconds. Now, we struggle to sit through a sitcom without scrolling through short-form video feeds.

Is it just nostalgia? Are we just getting older? Empirically, no. The data shows something much scarier: We are actually getting dumber. According to recent OECD studies tracking hundreds of thousands of adults across 27 rich nations, the ability of people to read, think critically, and do basic math has steadily declined over the last decade. Humanity had been advancing in intelligence for millennia, and now, the trend line is pointing down.

So, why is this happening? And more importantly, as a business owner or visionary, why should you care?

The "Cognitive Offloading" Trap

The decline in our collective intelligence lines up perfectly with the rise of the smartphone and the algorithmic internet.

Fifteen years ago, the internet was a place you actively surfed. We still remember when the internet was a space: you get home, go to the big desk with your desktop computer, turn on the power button on it, then on the big back computer, wait like 5 minutes, go on Internet Explorer and play games (R.I.P. Adobe Flash Player) or search for content. You had to search, discover, and engage your mind to find communities. Today, the internet is something that is served to us. We open an app and let an algorithm shovel a firehose of passive content into our brains.

But things are about to get much worse. We have entered the age of AI (and AI slop). If the algorithmic feed eroded our attention spans with brain rot, AI is threatening to erode our ability to think altogether. In higher education, professors are seeing a crisis. Students aren't just using AI like a calculator to work faster; they are using it as a substitute for the grueling, necessary work of critical thinking. They are using it to write their essays and solve complex problems.

When you outsource your thinking to a machine, the neurological machine between your ears (your brain) begins to atrophy. AI is becoming the ultimate "cognitive offloading" tool.

What This Means for Your Business and Brand

You might be wondering what a decline in student test scores has to do with your startup or nonprofit...everything!

Because the exact same "brain drain" happening in schools is happening in the business world. Right now, thousands of companies are using AI to write their website copy, script their videos, and generate their marketing strategies. It feels like a cheat code. It’s fast. It’s easy.

But here is the harsh reality: AI doesn't create; it regurgitates. When you use ChatGPT to do the hard work of defining your brand's voice or mapping out your growth strategy, you are opting for the exact same generic, algorithmic "slop" as your competitors. You lose your unique edge.

At ARTSITION, we see this every day. Businesses come to us with websites that look perfectly fine but generate zero sales, or videos that look pretty but tell no actual story. Why? Because there was no deep, human critical thinking applied to the strategy behind them.

The Good News: Authentic Thought is Your New Superpower

Research shows that students who refuse to use AI to write their essays—who put in the frustrating, difficult hours of doing the work themselves—not only perform better, but their brains become more resistant to the intelligence-dampening effects of modern tech.

The same rule applies to your business.

In a marketplace flooded with automated, AI-generated noise, authentic human strategy is a luxury. It is your ultimate competitive advantage.

If you want to build a brand that actually moves the needle—whether that means securing funding for a nonprofit or driving massive sales for a startup—you can't outsource your strategy to a chatbot.

• You need to understand the nuances of your local market in DuPage and Kane counties.

• You need to craft a visual identity that evokes real human emotion.

• You need a purpose-driven strategy before you ever hit "record" on a camera or publish a website.

We Are Here to Do the Heavy Lifting

AI is an incredible tool, but it makes a terrible strategist. It’s a super calculator, not a consultant.

At ARTSITION, our "Purpose-First" approach means we don’t take shortcuts with your vision. We put in the hard, human work to build data-backed strategies, high-converting websites, and premium video production that actually connects with real people.

We live in an era where everyone else is offloading their thinking. Let them.

If you are ready to use real strategy to launch your vision, we are ready to build your roadmap.

Request Your Free Strategy Session