Dr. Dong-Seon Chang, PhD, a neuroscientist based in South Korea, is working on a book about how more frequent interactions with AI will change our brains. He was a speaker on a panel about the brain economy moderated by The Innovator’s Editor-in-Chief at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, China in June.
Born in Heidelberg in 1980, Chang studied biology at the University of Konstanz and holds a doctorate in neuroscience from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen. He worked for the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE; Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen) and Hyundai Motor Group as the Head of Future Technology Strategy, was Assistant Professor at the Hanyang University in Seoul and is founder of the Future Explorer Society. Chang explains neuroscience as well as various future technology trends on his YouTube channel Curious Brain Lab which has over 610,000 subscribers. He has published international science bestsellers translated into German, English, Spanish and Korean. He recently spoke to The Innovator about his upcoming book “The Brain in the Future Era of AI” and how to thrive in a time of technological and societal disruption.
Q: Can you tell us about your work?
DSC: I’m a brain scientist by training and have a degree in social neuroscience, which I earned from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics. My work there focused on what happens in our brains when we perceive other humans. Other people are the most important source of information for our brains. We have multiple mechanisms to read other people not only by what they’re saying, but reading social signals, the facial expressions, the tone of their voice, and many other subtle cues.
These days, I work more as a science communicator to let people know more about the brain, how we perceive the world and why we think or feel in certain ways. My current interest is mostly focused on the change taking place in society with future technologies, such as AI, becoming part of our lives. Will we be happier and healthier with these technologies or will technologies using AI make us lonelier, unhappier and more biased? It’s an important question, one that needs to be asked not only by scientists. Everyone should be thinking about this. That’s why I try to communicate these issues to as many as people as possible, using my YouTube channel so we can collectively think about these problems and work on them.
Q: As I’m sure you’re aware a recent MIT study called “Your Brain on ChatGPT” aimed to measure the “cognitive cost” of using GenAI by looking at three groups tasked with writing brief essays — either on their own, using Google search or using ChatGPT. It found that the more help subjects had with their writing, the less brain activity, or “neural connectivity,” they experienced. In your opinion do we risk losing some of our cognitive abilities if we rely too much on AI?
DSC: Yes and no. Due to neuroplasticity and adaptability, our brains will use what is necessary for us to use. For example, when search machines such as Google or Yahoo were first introduced, we also worried about whether we would be still able to remember numbers or information, whether our brains capacity would not shrink. But looking back, search engines have not necessarily made us more stupid or reduced our brains’ capacity. I think AI technology will not change our brains fundamentally. The danger lies in how we use it. Recent studies – the one conducted by MIT but also another study last year published in Neuropsychology [an American Psychological Association journal] and a few other studies from Microsoft, all found that if you heavily rely on generative AI like ChatGPT, your critical thinking ability gets reduced. The MIT study shows that when you write an essay, your brain connectivity is significantly lower when you compare a group relying on generative AI versus using just your own brain. That makes totally sense because if you generate text or use your own thoughts to solve problems then your brain works more actively than when you expect AI to give you all answers. However, it’s not the technology itself because you can also use ChatGPT in a critical, skeptical way which will not reduce our critical thinking abilities so much.
Q: From studies I have read critical thinking will be one of the most important skills to have going forward. What, in your opinion, should be done to reinforce critical thinking in the age of AI?
DSC:. Critical thinking is more important than ever because with AI we will have so much more fake information and fake news to process than before. Our brains need to be trained to be able to critically evaluate information and judge whether something is real or fake. For this, you first need a basic amount of expertise. To be able to judge, you need previous information to rely on. That means you need to constantly update your own knowledge and learn to be able to critically evaluate new information. Instead of always asking ChatGPT or generative AI, we need to be able to develop thoughts ourselves, and be able to critically evaluate knowledge ourselves, which needs time and training.
How do you train your brain best? First, sit down, read a lot, write a lot. This is so simple, but reading a book is still one of the best exercises you can do for your brain. Because unlike an audio or video file, you decide yourself at what speed you are going to process information. You are the master of the information flow coming in and you go at your own speed. While doing this your brain processes multiple information coming from different brain areas, and you monitor your own sensations and reactions in the brain. You develop an ability to see things from a different perspective, and train meta-cognitive abilities. The areas in your prefrontal cortex are more active than when you watch a video or listen to an audio file, and your brain combines more information together. As a next step, try to verbalize your thoughts and reactions to the information you just read and write them down. You will develop an ability to consume knowledge from a wider perspective. This is a very crucial training for children and also for adults to train critical understanding.
Second, go out and talk to a lot of people. Just by sitting down alone and reading a lot of books you still might not be able to distinguish the truthfulness or quality of information. Only by connecting your brain with other brains will you gain the capacity to widen the model of the world you have initially built. Exchange thoughts, and communicate properly with others, to see that the same information can be consumed differently by other people. You need to constantly build new connections, to break the boundaries of yourself, especially with people from different backgrounds. The more different from you, the better, to exchange ideas and thoughts about an issue. We are bound to what we know and what we have experienced, that’s why we have to mix with other people to avoid being isolated in our own worlds and generate new thoughts and new perspectives.
Q: Many large corporates are trying to figure out how to reskill their workforces for the age of AI and new technologies. How would you recommend businesses approach the whole issue of brain capital and upskilling and reskilling their workforce in a way that helps reinforce what you just said.
DSC: We need to recognize today’s AI revolution, but at the same time also acknowledge how our brains work best. AI can now perform many cognitive tasks for us but just training employees to use AI tools for maximum efficiency would not be the right approach for our brains. Our brains haven’t changed anatomically in 300,000 years; the power of our brains grows when we connect with each other, and just substituting the human workforce with AI tools would risk isolation, mental‑health decline, and stagnation for our brains. Instead, we need to forge diverse collaborations across disciplines, cultures, and geographies, leveraging AI to connect minds, not replace them.
We need to look at humans and our minds and our abilities from a collective point of view and from a connected point of view. Our human species excels when knowledge is shared broadly. By using AI to bring more people with diverse backgrounds into the fold—to learn, teach, and innovate together—we can unlock the next leap in our brain economy.
If we find a way to really connect all the people in the world and give everyone a chance to get educated, to use AI and be able to connect with each other, then I think we might reach the next step in humanity’s evolution. We are only better than those humans 300,000 years ago because we are more connected and we share knowledge with each other. Whatever technology is introduced – whether it is AI, robotics or spatial computing – if it makes people lonely or disconnected and just reliant on a certain technology it will not unlock our brain potential. That is why if we talk about the new brain economy, we need to talk about ways we could connect more people from different backgrounds using the new technologies, not train and drill them on efficiency using these technologies.
Q:. What are some of the ways we could use technology to improve connections between people?
DSC: Technology today offers powerful new avenues for bringing people closer together. In New York, during a VR Film Festival, viewers used VR [virtual reality] headsets and were transported into a 360° film of Syrian and Afghan refugees trekking hundreds of miles. Witnessing families’ hunger and children’s tears firsthand moved almost every viewer to tears—far beyond what reading or watching a news report could achieve. As Jeremy Bailenson also writes in his book, VR can foster deep empathy by engaging all our senses. We could design more immersive empathic experiences using VR technology.
Shared virtual activities can also connect people from different places. There is a Korean game called VR Fishing which you can play using Meta Quest. While playing this game you can go to a lake or river and experience the weather and view live from your headset. A friend of mine is a researcher in Korea and he meets his son in the U.S. weekly, they “go fishing” together. Rather than a perfunctory one‑minute phone call, they chat naturally—about life, relationships, plans—while waiting for a virtual bite.
What I really loved about the game is also that, a few years back, the number one player worldwide was a British grandpa who had early Alzheimer’s and who was in a hospital and lonely. He played this game so many times with people from all over the world that he became the number one player on the leaderboard of this game. I think that’s a great example of generating connections through technology.
The same technology also has the power transforming education and collaboration. Imagine 10 years from now: students from anywhere in the world join a single virtual classroom, collaborating on projects, practicing languages, and learning from each other in real time. AI–powered translation and adaptive interfaces will break down language barriers and cultural divides—unlocking limitless, diverse exchanges that expand our collective brainpower. We can leverage technology to create joint experiences—virtual field trips, collaborative simulations, mixed‑reality workshops—and design platforms that prioritize human connection over mere efficiency.
In short, by imagining and building technologies that bring us into each other’s worlds—and by valuing those shared experiences over streamlined productivity—we can amplify empathy, foster genuine relationships, and tap into the full potential of our interconnected minds. That’s an alternative to retreating into isolated digital cocoons: consuming personalized news, echo‑chamber feeds, or solo games.
Q: What advice would you give to business leaders about how to improve the brain capital of their workforce? They have new workers coming in that lack resilience, older workers who no longer have the relevant skills sets but are not yet at retirement age. And mental health problems are increasingly spilling into the workplace. And these things are happening all at one. What’s the best way for employers to do their part to help things get on track?
DSC: I think, building cognitive flexibility matters. Many burnout and mental health struggles stem from an inability to adapt to uncertainty. We need to learn how to deal with uncertain situations. Cognitive flexibility—the brain’s capacity to reframe problems and switch strategies—can be trained just like a muscle. How can you train this? Creating deliberate ‘mini‑crises’ can help. Recent studies have shown that your cognitive flexibility suddenly increases when you have a child. When scientists studied the brains of mothers and father, they found that the brains needed to rewire for the new situation of nurturing a baby. Having a newborn baby is somewhat similar to having a mini-crisis, but it awakens previously unknown powers. You can simulate this by having short‑term ‘innovation sprints’ where teams tackle unfamiliar challenges to bring new projects or products to the world. Cross‑industry secondments could also simulate a new parenthood. Pairing your staff with peers in different fields generates new tension, and these experiences break rigid mental models, forcing people to learn, adapt, and grow resilience. Expanding employees’ world views and reviving curiosity can train cognitive flexibility.
Psychologists or psychiatrists can help through CBT [compulsory basic training] and workplace-based workshops to teach employees to notice unhelpful thought patterns and consciously choose more adaptive responses when deadlines shift, roles change, or new tech arrives.
From a big picture point of view, what we need is to broaden our minds and have new experiences to be able to cope with a change crisis positively and become more resilient.
Q: Isn’t it a question of expectations? My father was a research chemist. He worked for the same company for 40 years. There was an expectation that you had a job and a profession for life. Don’t we need to just start thinking differently and help people understand that they won’t have the same job and they won’t have the same profession and will need to continuously learn new things? If this were put in a positive light wouldn’t people have an easier time to adjust?
DSC: I think you really pinpointed something very important. Today’s young generation faces a deep dissonance: the rules that governed their parents’ careers no longer apply. To thrive, everyone—individuals and organizations alike—must shift from ‘job security’ to ‘self‑determination.’
I think in the upcoming years, everyone needs to become architects of their own future. AI, automation, and new business models are reshaping every industry. That disruption brings risk—but even greater potential for innovation and growth. In the era of AI you need to proactively design the skills and experiences you want to build and experiment boldly. What comes next? What systems and roles do today’s workforce need? How can we reinvent them? No one has the answers yet. Only those who build the future they want to live in will thrive.
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