For an entrepreneur, I have a terrible memory. What was that acquaintance’s name again? What was that tool my CFO recommended? Why did I walk into this room?

I’ve built systems to defend against my most destructive forgetfulness—for the most part, you won’t catch me missing an important email or blowing a deadline, because I have all the scaffolding I need to ensure nothing important slips through the cracks.

But sometimes, I just find myself drawing a blank. A word I was sure I once knew, or the point I was about to make suddenly going MIA.

There are plenty of studies suggesting that AI is hastening our collective cognitive decline. Widely cited research from MIT found that, when asked to write essays with ChatGPT assistance, participants showed the lowest brain engagement of the groups tested. Worse still, their neural activity actually decreased over successive assignments; by the end, many were defaulting to copy-paste.

AI-induced brain rot is certainly a possibility , but I’ve actually started using it for the opposite pursuit: to strengthen my brain, especially my memory. Here’s how.

This is one of those areas where forgetfulness quickly goes from being a charming quirk to potentially offensive—an especially perilous hazard for a CEO. Between fellow leaders, investors, and your own employees, there are lots of names to remember, and a high social cost if you don’t. People respond positively to hearing their own names— according to a study from the Institute for the Study of Child Development, hearing one’s name activates the left hemisphere of the brain. It’s a worthwhile practice for anyone who wants to build the esteem of those around them.

A great way to recall someone’s name is to build a narrative. The more specific and vivid the association, the better it sticks. ChatGPT can help you construct one on the spot:

"Help me remember the name [insert name]. Here's what I know about them: [job title, where we met, one detail about their appearance or personality, anything they said that stood out]. Build me a memorable association or short story that links their name to these details."

Mnemonics are memory strategies that work by transforming abstract information into vivid imagery using associations. Essentially, our brains are wired to retain stories, images and emotional cues far more reliably than raw data. Mnemonics work by piggybacking on this architecture, anchoring new information to something you already know and making it easier to retrieve later.

Of course, actually coming up with the mnemonic can be a task unto itself. Here’s where ChatGPT can save you time:

"Help me create a mnemonic to remember [information]. Make it vivid, a little absurd if needed and easy to visualize. Explain why the associations you chose should help it stick."

Back in college, I made flashcards for everything I needed to remember. I must have gone through thousands of them—but I used them because they worked. The science behind all those flashcards is simple: actively retrieving information from memory strengthens retention far more than passively reviewing it. Testing yourself is more effective than rereading your notes—a phenomenon researchers call “the testing effect.”

These days, ChatGPT can stand in for a stack of flashcards on any topic, any time:

"Quiz me on [topic/concept/meeting/material]. Ask me one question at a time, wait for my answer, then tell me if I'm right and fill in anything I missed. Keep going until I've demonstrated I know it."

The Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman had a surprisingly straightforward formula for learning a new concept: teach it to a child. (Or, absent a child, at least figure out how you’d explain it to one.) As he put it himself: “If you can’t explain it in simple terms, then you don’t understand it.”

ChatGPT makes a patient audience. Explain a concept you're trying to retain, and ask it to push back to expose your gaps in understanding:

"I'm going to explain [concept] in my own words. Tell me what I got wrong, what I oversimplified, and what questions I should be asking to understand it better."

Alternatively, have ChatGPT explain a concept you’re struggling to grasp in simple terms:

"Explain [concept] as if I have no background in it. Use analogies, avoid jargon and check my understanding by asking me a question at the end."

Much like testing, spaced repetition is a well-documented memory technique with a simple premise: review material at increasing intervals over time, and it moves from short-term to long-term memory. ChatGPT can build you a personalized review schedule:

"Here's something I want to remember long-term: [paste notes and key details]. Create a spaced repetition plan for the next 30 days—tell me what to review and when, and give me a few quiz questions for each session."

Sure, AI can be bad for our brains, but it can also strengthen them. Use these techniques to enhance your sense of recall, and spend less time trying to remember why you walked into that room.