A new study by researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (USA), published in Memory & Cognition in June 2025, has revealed that using the internet during brainstorming sessions can reduce the originality of ideas. Search engines like Google may hinder creative thinking by nudging users toward conventional solutions. However, the researchers stress that the internet doesn't make people less intelligent—it’s all about how it is used. Here’s how online access influences creativity, and what you can do to preserve your unique thinking.

The Experiment: Internet vs. Imagination

To study the internet’s impact on creative thinking, the researchers conducted an experiment involving two groups of volunteers. Participants were asked to come up with unusual ways to use everyday objects—umbrellas and shields. The conditions were as follows:

  • Group 1 had access to the internet and could search for ideas online.
  • Group 2 relied solely on their own imagination, with no internet access.

The results were striking:

  • The group with internet access proposed less original ideas, often repeating solutions found online, such as using an umbrella as a parachute or a shield as a serving tray.
  • The offline group generated more unusual and varied ideas, such as transforming an umbrella into an art installation or a shield into a piece of sports equipment.

Analysis showed that participants with internet access tended to reproduce common answers drawn from popular search results. Their ideas rarely went beyond the first pages of search engine results.

The "Fixation Effect": Why the Internet Limits Creativity

This phenomenon is explained by functional fixedness—a psychological effect where individuals become stuck on familiar solutions, limiting their ability to think outside the box. By offering ready-made answers, the internet narrows the mental landscape and suppresses the generation of unique ideas.

Co-author Mark Patterson notes that online searches often lead people to copy popular ideas rather than create something new.

Key findings of the study:

  • The internet speeds up access to information but can reduce creative depth, especially in tasks requiring innovation.
  • Ready-made answers form mental templates that constrain imagination.
  • Participants without internet access more often relied on associative thinking, leading to greater originality.

The Internet Doesn’t Make Us Dumber—but Balance Is Key

Researchers emphasize that the internet itself doesn’t impair cognitive ability. The problem arises when it becomes the primary source of ideas during the creative process.
The internet doesn’t make us dumber, but it’s essential to use it wisely, says Patterson.

They offer the following recommendations:

  • Start without the internet: Begin brainstorming with just your thoughts to stimulate original thinking.
  • Use the web for refinement: After generating ideas, use the internet to test feasibility or gather supporting information.
  • Value uniqueness: Human minds can generate ideas that don’t exist in search results—this advantage should be nurtured.

Context: The Internet and Creativity in 2025

This research aligns with other studies on the impact of technology on cognition. For example, Nature (2024) reported that excessive smartphone use reduces attention span but not overall intelligence.

Meanwhile, the internet remains indispensable. According to Statista, in 2025, 67% of the world’s population (about 5.4 billion people) use the internet, spending an average of 6.5 hours online daily. This makes balancing digital tools with independent thought more relevant than ever.

Looking Ahead: How to Preserve Creativity

Researchers plan to expand the study to include other digital tools like generative AIs (ChatGPT, Claude) and their influence on creativity. Preliminary data suggests that AI can amplify the fixation effect by offering templated solutions derived from large datasets.

Future work will aim to develop methods to combine AI with human imagination for optimal results. Meanwhile, companies like Google and Microsoft are already testing features that limit formulaic responses in search engines and AI assistants to encourage independent thinking. For example, Google’s experimental “Creative Search” mode provides inspirational prompts instead of direct answers.

Conclusion

The Carnegie Mellon study confirms that while the internet is undeniably useful, it may inhibit creative thinking due to the fixation effect. Search engines tend to steer users toward standard solutions, suppressing originality—especially in tasks that demand unconventional approaches. To preserve creativity, researchers recommend brainstorming offline first and only using the web for refining ideas. In the digital age, the ability to balance information consumption with imagination is the key to producing something truly new.