Every generation thinks the new thing will ruin us. Plato thought writing would make us forgetful. Parents thought calculators would end math. Politicians blamed comic books for corrupting kids.
Now it is AI’s turn, accused of “rotting our brains” before we have even figured out what it is good for.
The tradition of panic
We have been here before.
- Writing: In ancient Athens, Socrates warned that putting words on papyrus would weaken memory. Instead, writing became the foundation of philosophy, science, and history.
- The printing press: Detractors worried it would spread lies and heresy. It did, but it also fueled literacy, democracy, and revolutions.
- Novels: In the 18th century, novels were dismissed as dangerous distractions, especially for women. Today, they are taught as cultural milestones.
- Calculators: In the 1970s, teachers warned students would forget arithmetic. Instead, calculators freed up time for more advanced problem-solving.
- Television and games: Each was branded as a corrupter of youth. Both created new industries and new literacies.
The pattern is clear. New tools arrive, they get demonized, and eventually they settle in as part of the way we think and create.
Why the fear feels real
These worries are not plucked from thin air. Every new tool shifts how we use our minds. Writing outsourced memory. Calculators outsourced arithmetic. Social media does compete with deep focus, and research suggests that heavy use of short-form video is linked with shorter attention spans.
But here is the key: that is not “brain rot.” It is adaptation. Our brains respond to the environment we put them in. Skills change, redistribute, and evolve.
What AI really changes
AI feels different because it touches language and reasoning, the things we have long thought of as uniquely human. That makes the fear sharper. If machines write, summarize, and even “think,” what is left for us?
The answer is plenty. The arrival of a tool does not erase human capacity. It redefines which skills matter most. With AI, that means less time on rote production and more emphasis on judgment, creativity, and ethics.
It is also a chance to rethink how we teach and learn. For centuries, education has leaned heavily on memorization. In a world where recall is cheap and instant, the greater value lies in teaching critical thinking, verification, and problem framing. That is the kind of shift that could make us sharper as a society.
The real risk is not brain rot
The real danger is not that we lose the ability to think. It is that we settle for shallow uses of a powerful tool. If we let AI do the drafting but do not teach people to check, verify, and refine, we will get more noise and less signal.
But history is on our side. Once we get past the panic, we usually learn how to make the new tool serve us, not the other way around.
The bottom line
AI will not rot our brains any more than books, novels, or calculators did. Like every technology, it will change us. The challenge is not to stop the change. It is to make sure we channel it toward better thinking, not just faster shortcuts.
At Alipes, we have seen enough of these cycles to know that technologies are always bastardized at first. That is the messy middle. What matters is how we adapt on the other side.