HUMAN FIRST

Our mission is to protect and advance human intelligence in the age of AI.

MINDS UNDER SIEGE

Is AI making us stupid?

The promise of artificial intelligence is to equal and then exceed the capacities of human cognition.

This technology is already bringing enormous benefits to many fields, such as medicine, information technology and marketing.

But there are hazards. The most commonly discussed are job losses, misinformation, environmental damage and ethical negligence.

Invisible Degradation

A less discussed threat may prove the most important. Research has shown that AI can degrade human intelligence*.

As dependence on AI grows, users risk weakening their critical thinking, breadth of attention, and creativity. It's not an exaggeration to suggest that our minds are under siege.

First, Protect

Think of the human mind as a wilderness — natural, spontaneous, and beautiful. There's rightly a huge movement to protect the environmental wilderness. By the same token, we need to protect the mental wilderness.

That requires us to research and publicize the areas where human thinking risks being undermined. Public initiatives are required in education, social policy, online technologies and more.

But protection alone is not enough.

Next, Advance

Unbelievable volumes of money and expertise are poured every day into advancing AI. Imagine if just a fraction of this treasure were devoted to advancing human intelligence?

There's an assumption here: that our natural thinking can be not only protected, but improved. And why not?

As a species we're increasingly responsible for own evolution. We have the science and the tools to expand our mental powers. The fact is, no one knows the limits of our innate capabilities.

A PROACTIVE RESPONSE

The Human Intelligence Project is a proactive and positive response to the threat we have identified. We're not looking to attack AI. We're looking to build human minds.

We have just begun, and our approach is still taking shape.

There are many other concerned individuals and communities addressing this issue. We will support and collaborate with them wherever we can. At the same time, we'll offer our own specific contributions. In our current plans, these include:

STIMULATE CONVERSATION

We'll suggest questions to consider, create opportunities for discussion, and host occasional events focused on the crisis in human intelligence.

CURATE RESEARCH

We'll gather and promote relevant research, providing links and summaries to help spread pertinent information.

CREATE INTERVENTIONS

Longer-term, we'll collaborate with experts in cognition, education and technology to build strategies, programs and tools that advance human intelligence.

Questions to Consider

We have begun to identify questions that may stimulate productive conversations. They include:

IMPACT: Is AI reshaping the human mind? If so, how?
CRITICAL THINKING: How can we strengthen critical thinking in a world of AI?
CREATIVITY: Will using AI to write, design and invent make us less creative?
SPEED OF THOUGHT: AI is so fast, are we at risk of rushing our own thinking and losing the skill of slow deliberation?
AGENCY: Will AI increase our decision-making agency, or weaken it?
CONTEXT BLINDNESS: Will the use of AI increase or decrease our natural tendency to context blindness?
HUMAN vs AI: What do people need to understand about the difference between human and artificial intelligence?
AI-SPECIFIC SKILLS: What new, or newly important, cognitive skills are needed when we’re using AI?

You probably have questions of your own: we'd love to hear them!

You Are Invited

The Human Intelligence Project is a not-for-profit initiative launched by a handful of concerned individuals. We would love to build a community that shares our core objectives.

If you care about this issue, it's likely you can add more than we can imagine to the Project's future development. We warmly welcome your participation. Please contact us here, and we'll be in touch:

NOTE: Your privacy matters to us. We'll never sell your data. We may send you occasional emails, but you can always unsubscribe :)

*References

Gerlich, Michael. “AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking.” Societies, vol. 15, no. 1, Jan. 2025, p. 6, https://doi.org/10.3390/soc15010006.

Fan, Yizhou, et al. “Beware of Metacognitive Laziness: Effects of Generative Artificial Intelligence on Learning Motivation, Processes, and Performance.” British Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 56, no. 2, 2025, pp. 489–530, https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13544.

Dergaa, Ismail, et al. “From Tools to Threats: A Reflection on the Impact of Artificial-Intelligence Chatbots on Cognitive Health.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 15, Apr. 2024, p. 1259845, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1259845.

Jose, Binny, et al. Frontiers | The Cognitive Paradox of AI in Education: Between Enhancement and Erosion. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1550621. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.