Neuroscientist Professor James Vickers said AI can be a great tool that can help stimulate critical thinking if used in the right way, but a recent study of more than 26,000 students in grades 7 to 12 in China highlighted problems with offloading hard mental work to AI. Published this year, the study found AI use lifted homework scores by 18 per cent and improved completion times by 30 per cent, but lowered monthly exam scores by 20 per cent within six months. Vickers said there is a risk AI is really going to be affecting brain function into future lives. Dr Matt Kirkcaldie said the brain almost quadruples in weight from birth to adulthood without adding any new neurons, and that critical thinking, learning and other cognitive tasks help build robust nerve networks underlying cognitive reserve, which Vickers described as the ability to resist things that negatively impact the brain, including stroke, brain injury, multiple sclerosis and even dementia. Kirkcaldie said students might read AI-generated text and understand what it says but never go through the struggle of working through ideas. A recent report by the eSafety Commission found 78 per cent of Australian children had used an AI assistant. Alexis Shegog said she would not want to cheapen her experience at uni, especially with the fees she pays.