News + Notes from the Media Lab: June 2025

Membership at the MIT Media Lab

Every day, Media Lab researchers collaborate with leaders from global organizations to spark creativity and shape the future. Media Lab membership opens the door to groundbreaking research and innovation; royalty-free licenses for intellectual property developed during their membership periods; networking opportunities not only with our researchers, but also with peers from other member organizations; deep collaborations with our faculty, staff, and students; opportunities to recruit top talent for internships and permanent positions; and much more.

Explore the possibilities of membership at the MIT Media Lab

Spotlight: Member Panel

At Dell Technologies World, a panel discussed a collaboration between Media Lab member company Dell Technologies , the MIT Media Lab, and NASA Ames Research Center , focused on the future of space exploration. Centered on supporting a sustainable and enduring human presence on the moon, the effort brought together advanced computing, immersive technologies, and interdisciplinary research to reimagine lunar missions as long-term, human-centered efforts.

Speakers:

• Courtney H. – Host and Moderator, Dell Technologies
• Kim Slater (she/her) – Chief of Staff, MIT Media Lab; former Draper executive and veteran aerospace engineer with 15+ years supporting NASA missions
• Dr. Don D. Haddad – Research Scientist, NASA Ames Research Center and MIT Media Lab Space Exploration Initiative; expert in lunar imaging, 3D terrain modeling, and spectral sensing
• Martin Sawtell – XR Lead, Office of the CTO, Dell Technologies; focuses on physical AI, visual representation, and extended reality platforms

Featured Research

In a new study led by Media Lab research scientist Nataliya Kosmyna, Ph.D , researchers investigated the potential cognitive costs of using large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT when writing essays. Participants were divided into three groups: one used an LLM to respond to the essay prompts, one used a search engine, and one, labeled "brain-only," wrote their essays without any additional assistance. Each group completed three sessions using their assigned tool (or no tool at all), then switched—the LLM group was asked to write an essay using only their brains, and the brain-only group was asked to use an LLM. The researchers monitored the participants' brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG). Additionally, they interviewed the participants after each session and had the essays graded by human teachers and a specially built AI agent. They found that the LLM-only group "consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels, [raising] concerns about the long-term educational implications of LLM reliance and [underscoring] the need for deeper inquiry into AI's role in learning.”

The researchers note that the sample size is small (54 students aged 18–39, 18 of whom completed all four sessions), and the paper has not yet been peer-reviewed. However, Dr. Kosmyna and her colleagues chose to release this work as a preprint due to the urgency of the topic. "What really motivated me to put it out now before waiting for a full peer review," Dr. Kosmyna told TIME, "is that I am afraid in 6-8 months, there will be some policymaker who decides, ‘let’s do GPT kindergarten.’ I think that would be absolutely bad and detrimental. Developing brains are at the highest risk.”

Read press coverage of this study | Read the researchers' FAQ

E-LIG is a laser-enabled, additive fabrication method for producing flexible, double-sided printed circuit boards (PCBs) with integrated functional devices—a key component for wearables, soft robotics, and transparent electronics. Developed by Wedyan Babatain , a postdoctoral fellow in the Tangible Media group, and collaborators at the Media Lab and MIT Center for Bits + Atoms, E-LIG provides a scalable, streamlined, and cost-effective alternative to traditional PCB manufacturing techniques. This work was recently featured on the cover of Advanced Science. 

In the News

In MIT Technology Review, Media Lab alum Ayah Bdeir makes the case for an open alternative to proprietary approaches to making physical interfaces for AI tools. "Do we really want our future mediated entirely through interfaces we can’t open, code we can’t see, and decisions we can’t influence?“, she asks. "I’m not proposing to reject AI hardware, but to reject the idea that innovation must be proprietary, elite, and closed. I’m proposing to fund and build the open alternative. That means putting our investment, time, and purchases towards robots built in community labs, AI models trained in the open, tools made transparent and hackable. That world isn’t just more inclusive—it’s more innovative. It’s also more fun.”  

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