AI ‘boiling frog’ effect: Hidden cognitive risk humans already face

The list of artificial intelligence-related dangers is growing. Earlier it was AI “brain fry”; now it is the “boiling frog” effect, highlighting the surging impact of AI models on human cognitive abilities.

In a new study, researchers have found that the dependence of AI tools for carrying out “reasoning-intensive” cognitive tasks, including reading, writing and brainstorming, can not only damage users’ intellectual ability but also impair mental stamina.

The researchers equate this cognitive decline with “boiling frog” effect, describing a situation where a person or society fails to react to a slow, incremental threat until it is too late.

This is what is happening with humans where their cognitive muscles are bit-by-bit tearing down, leading to long-term formidable effects.

“This is analogous to the ‘boiling frog’ effect, where each incremental act feels costless, until the cumulative effect becomes overwhelming to address.”

The study, conducted by a multidisciplinary cohort of scientists from across the United States and United Kingdom, also suggested that persistent cognitive offloading to AI chatbots can distort people’s critical thinking and colonise their minds unknowingly.

For the study, researchers recruited approximately 350 American participants to solve a series of short fraction equations. The group was split into two: just over half were randomly selected to use a specialized chatbot, powered by OpenAI’s GPT-5 and pre-programmed with the exam's correct answers. While the remaining participants served as an AI-free control group.

The researchers also found another disturbing pattern marked by declined people’s persistence and motivation to try cognitive tasks without AI.

After just [about] 10 minutes of AI-assisted problem-solving, people who lost access to the AI performed worse and gave up more frequently than those who never used it,” the findings suggested.

University of California assistant professor Rachit Dubey, a computational cognitive scientist who coauthored the study, also cautioned, if people will not stop outsourcing their tasks to AI models, a time will come when humans would be deprived of capability, innovation and creativity.

“If sustained AI use erodes the motivation and persistence that drive long-term learning, these effects will accumulate over years, and by the time they are visible, they will be difficult to reverse,” the study issued a dire warning.