AI made me dumb

Introduction

For 6 months, I have been using Claude every day. And I noticed something that worried me: I have no more ideas.

Not "fewer solutions to my problems", Claude serves those on demand. I mean: no more spontaneous ideas. No more of those little flashes that came in the shower, while walking, while doing the dishes. Just silence.

So I went digging. And what I found is fairly brutal: generative AI, by removing moments of boredom, literally shuts down a part of the brain, the one that produces new ideas.

This article is the detailed version of the video I posted. If you would rather watch, go ahead. Otherwise, here is the full file.

1. The creative brain has 5 actors (and you need all 5)

To understand what is happening, you have to know the players. There are 5 of them, and they work as a network.

Actor 1, the attentional network (frontoparietal)

The one that focuses. When you read, code, fill in a form: this is the one steering. Key zones: dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA 9/46) + posterior parietal cortex (BA 7).

Actors 2, 3, 4, the Default Mode Network (DMN)

Three zones working together:

• Medial prefrontal cortex (BA 9m/10/32), introspection, projection into the future
• Posterior cingulate cortex (BA 23/31), the memory hub, self-referential
• Inferior parietal lobule (BA 39/40), information integration

The DMN is the brain's "default mode": it activates when you are not doing anything specific. It is what runs in the background and lets ideas emerge.

Actor 5, the anterior insula

The detector. It senses boredom as a signal and switches the brain from "attentional network" mode to "DMN" mode.

A concrete example: you work on a problem (attentional network). You get stuck. The insula picks up the frustration/boredom. It sends a signal. The attentional network loosens up. The DMN takes over. A few minutes later: idea.

That is the normal cycle.

2. The Yamazaki study: proof that boredom is necessary

In 2023, a Japanese researcher (Yusuke Yamazaki) wanted to test the effect of boredom on creativity. The setup is simple:

• 25 students, split into 2 groups.
• Group A: copy phone numbers for 10 minutes, an intentionally boring task.
• Group B: do nothing (control).
• Then, both groups take a creativity test: imagine the consequences of an unlikely scenario and list as many answers as possible.

The result: group A (the one that did the boring task) produced significantly more answers, and more original answers, than group B.

Boredom does not exhaust creativity. Boredom prepares it.

📚 Reference: Yamazaki et al. (2023). Effects of boredom-induced tasks on divergent thinking. [To complete with the exact citation if published]

3. What happens when you open Claude

Let us put the normal cycle next to the AI-assisted one:

Normal cycle

1. Work (attentional network)
2. Stuck
3. Boredom (insula sends signal)
4. DMN takes over
5. Idea

AI cycle

1. Work (attentional network)
2. Stuck
3. You open Claude
4. You ask your question
5. You read the answer
6. You evaluate
7. (the attentional network never let go)

Notice anything? Steps 3 to 5 of the normal cycle (boredom → DMN → idea) simply do not exist. The insula never has time to send its signal. The DMN never activates. You removed boredom from your creative process. And with boredom, you removed the only moment where your brain produces ideas of its own.

4. The GPS and compass metaphor

I find this image useful because it says it all in one sentence:

AI is the GPS. Your DMN is the compass.

When you use the GPS in the car, you reach the destination without trouble. But try to make the trip from memory the next day, impossible. Your brain did not encode the route because it did not have to find it.

With generative AI, it is the same. Every time you use it instead of personal reflection, you encode nothing. And in the long run, your sense of creative direction, your inner compass, ends up shutting down.

An important nuance: I am not saying you should stop using AI. I am saying you should put it back in its place. The GPS for unknown trips, the compass for everything else.

5. My 3-step method to repair

I tested it for 3 months. It is intentionally simple, because it has to fit into an already busy day.

Step 1, the boring task (10 min max)

Like in the Yamazaki study, we start by creating boredom. One task per session, picked at random:

• Copy phone numbers
• Count letters in a text
• Sort shapes by colour

10 minutes max. Enough to create boredom, not enough for it to become painful.

Step 2, the creative question (5 min)

After the boring task, switch to a creative question pulled at random from a database. 5 minutes to list as many answers as possible.

The principle: you work on an unusual question, no safety net, while your DMN is warm.

Step 3, the journal

After answering, you validate, and you log your ideas in a creativity journal where you can compare your answers across days. The point is to see progress, to spot patterns in your own thinking.

I considered adding an AI to judge the creativity of the answers. But that goes against the whole point. So no.

6. Going further

If you want to test the method, I built a small tool that automates the 3 steps: [link to app / beta].

And if you want to tell me whether it works for you, join the Skool community: [link].

Conclusion

Generative AI is not the problem. Using it systematically before letting your own brain breathe is the problem.

Your Default Mode Network is a free resource, always available, and older than every language model put together. Stop short-circuiting it.

SEO / technical markup

• H1 (main title)
• H2 (sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Conclusion)
• H3 (sub-sections: actors 1-5, steps 1-3)
• Internal links to: YouTube video, previous article (if any), tool page
• Image alt: "Diagram of the Default Mode Network and the creative cycle", "Yamazaki study 2023 - 25 students", etc.
• Schema.org: Article with author, datePublished, image, mainEntityOfPage

Bonus FAQ (if your site supports FAQ schema)

Q: Does AI really make you less creative? A: Long-term and used systematically, yes. It removes the moments of boredom needed to activate the Default Mode Network, the brain region that produces spontaneous ideas.

Q: What is the Default Mode Network (DMN)? A: It is a network of 3 brain zones (medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, inferior parietal lobule) that activates when you are not doing anything specific. It produces the "shower ideas".

Q: Which study proves that boredom makes you creative? A: The study by Yusuke Yamazaki (2023), conducted on 25 students. The group that did a boring task before a creativity test produced significantly more original answers than the control group.

Q: Should I stop using Claude or ChatGPT? A: No. Use them after letting your brain produce its own ideas, not instead of.