A 2026 study by BCG and the University of California, Riverside surveyed 1,488 workers and found that intensive AI oversight was associated with 14% more mental effort, 19% more information overload and 12% more mental fatigue.1
When AI takes over execution, our work shifts from doing to overseeing. We have more tools to manage, more outputs to review and more decisions to make, all competing for the same finite attention. We can produce more, but our brains cannot expand at the same speed.
The result is brain fry: the mental fatigue that occurs when using or overseeing AI exceeds our cognitive capacity. Brain fog, difficulty focusing and slower decision-making are its most common signs.
Brain Cooler is a series of short interactive experiences designed to help prevent that overload from accumulating. Each lasts two to four minutes, is grounded in peer-reviewed research and uses a different cognitive or sensory mechanism to redirect attention, reduce mental fatigue and give the brain space to recover.