Episode 1

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Published on:

13th Nov 2025

Your Brain on ChatGPT: A Cognitive Neuroscientist Explains the Risk

Is AI quietly making us dumber?

Host Greg Shove sits down with cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Sahar Yousef (UC Berkeley Haas lecturer and founder of the Becoming Superhuman Lab) to unpack what happens to our brains when we outsource thinking to AI, on AI Truth Serum.

Sahar breaks down MIT's study showing that heavy ChatGPT users show weaker brain connectivity and memory retention, and introduces her TRV framework (Think, Refine, Verify) for using AI without losing your own cognitive edge. The conversation covers AI addiction by design, what the research means for kids and schools, and whether we're headed toward losing real cognitive agency to a handful of tech companies.

A research-backed guide to using AI without letting it use you.

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Episode links:

Dr. Sahar Yousef's website

MIT/OpenAI study on ChatGPT power users

TechPolicy report on AI addiction

Researchers propose Gen AI Addiction Syndrome

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About the Podcast

Supercompanies with Greg Shove
The smartest companies building the future
Every two weeks, Supercompanies brings you unfiltered conversations with the founders and CEOs actually building AI-native companies right now, no theory, no hype, just what's working and what's failing inside real organizations.

Hosted by Greg Shove, CEO of Section and a tech executive since before the Y2K scare, having founded seven companies including his time at AOL. Guests have included Zapier's Wade Foster, Fanvue's Joel Morris, and Logitech's Eric Porres.

Video versions of every episode, along with clips and highlights, are available on YouTube at @SupercompaniesPod.