I've noticed this myself.

It's very tempting to keep on pushing Claude Code or other agents to generate code for your project. But at a certain point, you notice that you're avoiding reviewing the generated code. The thought process is: "Oh, it probably got it right - I'll review it later". Spoiler - you won't.

That's why I decided I will have days where I don't use any AI at all. I will make sure that during these days I go over the code previously generated and actually think whether it makes sense to have it.

Cognitive debt is real. Here is a quote from the study: "Cognitive debt defers mental effort in the short term but results in long-term costs, such as diminished critical inquiry, increased vulnerability to manipulation, decreased creativity. When participants reproduce suggestions without evaluating their accuracy or relevance, they not only forfeit ownership of the ideas but also risk internalizing shallow or biased perspectives."

In short, use your brain more often.

Here are some studies to refer to:

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.08872v1

To Think or Not to Think: The Impact of AI on Critical-Thinking Skills
NSTA - National Science Teachers Association