# AI models can get brain rot, too

- Link: https://www.widthness.com/ai-models-can-get-brain-rot-too/
- Published: 2026-10-21T09:45:00-05:00
- Author: Curated by John Wysocki

Image credit: Rachel Barton/Texas A&M Engineering. Article by  Amanda Norvelle. Texas A&M University – October 19, 2026. Research article: arXiv. As humans and AI models roam the internet, they encounter lots of junk: clickbait headlines, misinformation, hashtags. Research by Dr. Zhengzhong Tu and his colleagues indicates this junk-filled environment could be a cause for concern. “Brain rot” has emerged as a term to describe cognitive changes — like diminished attention spans — in humans who engage with an abundance of frivolous, attention-grabbing content. Tu, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University, found that when large language models (LLMs) train on junk data, they can get brain rot, too. This research was recently accepted to the 2026 Conference on Language Modeling. […] Click here to view the original article at www.news.engineering.tamu.edu Video: AI models can get brain rot, too – Texas A&M Engineering