All In The Mind Is AI making our brains lazier?
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Mar 7, 2026 Joel Pearson, cognitive neuroscientist and director of the Future Minds Lab, explores how AI-driven change is reshaping work, learning and mental habits. He discusses rising graduate-level job losses, student anxiety about career futures, the risk of cognitive atrophy from outsourcing thinking to AI, and the idea of ‘cognitive upsizing’—using AI while seeking harder, more meaningful tasks.
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Agents Hiring Humans And Spending Money
- Agents can act autonomously across apps, hire humans, and even buy services with access to your cards.
- Joel describes OpenClaw agents running on personal machines and platforms where agents subcontract tasks to thousands of human workers.
Pivot Student Mindset Toward Ownership
- Keep studying but reframe career planning toward entrepreneurship and ownership of your work.
- Pearson recommends students build skills to run small teams or businesses as firms shrink with AI amplification.
AI Boosts Output And Burnout Simultaneously
- AI can expand roles and productivity while simultaneously increasing workload and burnout.
- Berkeley research on a 200-person company found faster work and longer hours after AI adoption.