insightful read! appreciate discourse around historical patterns that mirror AI advancements and the words of caution about resisting atrophy… what will our minds be needed for? we evolve into a new aptitude entirely?
Dear Sinéad, thank you for writing this piece. Your voice is so important!
I do think that the biggest danger lies in the fact that we are delegating our cognitive effort to AI and how easy that will become (and increasingly is) for many people. I wrote this text discussing the issue.
Thanks Sinead, that article was very interesting, especially about basic writing skills for outsourcing. It’s a struggle and we run away what requires more thought, even for simple emails. It’s eye-opening how we’ve lost our ability to function without maps. I grew up not using and I remember those roads very well, and I can’t remember much about road mapping from the last 20 years as I was maps dependent.
Thank you for reading! The cognitive work we outsource has usually been replaced with high-order thinking. But with AI it's less clear and intuitive what that should look like for people, and the path of least resistance is what we are biologically wired to take.
Great question! I’m not sure how they are implementing it. But it isn’t about not using AI at all, it’s a general purpose technology so we have to be able to use it as it will be as commonplace as the computer. But it’s about how it’s used and how we redesign learning environments to strengthen cognitive skills and exercise/ build new ones. Sometimes this means AI in classrooms for certain tasks and in other areas it would mean working without AI .
Excellent Story! And 100% truth. I was on a Zoom the other day talking about this. One person felt like we're not losing, we're adapting. I felt he was totally wrong. The funny thing is, you can use it to become much smarter and fire off those Nurons! But Thinking comes into the picture. Critical Thinking. We can't lose that. Especially Us.
100% with you. One other thing I worry about and would like to read your thoughts on, is how is AI going to affect poorer countries and if you believe it is going to create an even greater gap between poorer and richer countries.
I know AI is supposed to give anyone a chance, but I'm skeptikal of the chance poorer nations will have in the long term without independent/separate big local AI corporations (like the U.S. has) etc.
Love this! I shared a piece recently about using AI to create personal brand photos. Whilst on one hand it's wonderful to have technology that makes something expensive and time-consuming accessible for more people to elevate their business, I began to think about how having to DO uncomfortable things (I've always hated professional photo shoots because they are way outside my comfort zone) is so valuable because it's how we grow. If everything comes easy in an AI world - where is the growth? There's value in brainstorming - in stretching our minds. There's value in getting things wrong - so we learn and get better. I fear the lack of growth that comes with less discomfort. I want my kids to struggle with things! The cognitive debt is a huge, huge concern. And so is the 'discomfort debt', in my opinion.
Yes! this is something I have been sounding the alarm too as well and it’s not a matter of all together not utilizing AI but rather about thinking of ways to partner with it differently
Hi Sinéad, thanks for putting this together. I was at the AI for Good conference in Geneva this month and this was an area that was talked about. I started using ChatGPT early on when I was at the end of my MBA journey. I discovered exaclty what your article represents I didn't learn anything and certainly didn't remember anything 'I' wrote. I didn't really engage with the content. I didn't like that - I was there to learn. So I stopped after two weeks. But I wanted to keep testing it to see what it could do. Then I discovered the idea of simply going and back and forth with it. Now I have it trained to not write anything, but rather use it as a suggestive and ideation tool. This works quite well. But if you are lazy and don't care about the quality of content you are putting out - or the ethics around it - or the human centric aspect of whatever we are trying to get out of gen AI - then the cognitive decline will happen. But I think if we are aware of it - it can do the opposite - it can aid in increasing our cognitive processes if we use it responsibility. As much as we need systems and responsible, ethical organizations to regulate - I think the deeper issue, and more important will always be teaching and developing critical and ethical thinking practices. And as your article states - yes I think we are headed to a future where potentially AI handles a large amount of our tasks. I'm wondering if perhaps - as a benefit - this would allow us to return as humans to the time of Socrates where we are able to simply our lives and truly think clearly again - and think for ourselves. Who can say our ideas are our own with the constant flow of information and exposure. But maybe perhaps we can get back to that...unless the robots kill us all first! :)
This was a very insightful read. Thank you! I myself use ai alot, but I do question the output all the time. I'm going back to writing, even if it's basic journaling. Pure thoughts from mind to paper, and debating them.
"using LLMs as sparring partners," I love how this phrase beautifully captures how AI can be used to enhance mental strength, or in other words, to grow human cognitive abilities. It's remarkable how much a person can learn from AI by simply asking questions. Sometimes I feel like that scene in WALL-E where the captain is asking, "Define Earth. Define seas. ... Define hoe down. " https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59M-t6Js6Q8
Awesome read as always. The key quote to me is "how do we create cognitive friction for the age of supercomputers?"
This is a question I continue to grapple with. What are the strategies needed so that we can get the most out of AI while also strengthening our cognitive capacities.
AI as teacher...or as sparring partner...is a useful metaphor. I'm just not sure what the specific techniques would look like.
this line is a great summary of our problem. “use it or lose it” is not just a catchy phrase. It is a physiological reality. "A society without thinking skills could face faster cognitive decline and more unstable democracies". We will need an inspiration to keep (or make) our minds sharp. Great read!
insightful read! appreciate discourse around historical patterns that mirror AI advancements and the words of caution about resisting atrophy… what will our minds be needed for? we evolve into a new aptitude entirely?
Thank you!!
Dear Sinéad, thank you for writing this piece. Your voice is so important!
I do think that the biggest danger lies in the fact that we are delegating our cognitive effort to AI and how easy that will become (and increasingly is) for many people. I wrote this text discussing the issue.
https://learningcosmos.substack.com/p/outsourcing-thinking-will-ai-atrophy
thanks for reading and I will check this out!
Thanks Sinead, that article was very interesting, especially about basic writing skills for outsourcing. It’s a struggle and we run away what requires more thought, even for simple emails. It’s eye-opening how we’ve lost our ability to function without maps. I grew up not using and I remember those roads very well, and I can’t remember much about road mapping from the last 20 years as I was maps dependent.
Thank you for reading! The cognitive work we outsource has usually been replaced with high-order thinking. But with AI it's less clear and intuitive what that should look like for people, and the path of least resistance is what we are biologically wired to take.
in china, schools started implementing ai in classrooms.
how are they ensuring ai doesn't crate any cognitive debt?
Great question! I’m not sure how they are implementing it. But it isn’t about not using AI at all, it’s a general purpose technology so we have to be able to use it as it will be as commonplace as the computer. But it’s about how it’s used and how we redesign learning environments to strengthen cognitive skills and exercise/ build new ones. Sometimes this means AI in classrooms for certain tasks and in other areas it would mean working without AI .
Excellent Story! And 100% truth. I was on a Zoom the other day talking about this. One person felt like we're not losing, we're adapting. I felt he was totally wrong. The funny thing is, you can use it to become much smarter and fire off those Nurons! But Thinking comes into the picture. Critical Thinking. We can't lose that. Especially Us.
100% with you. One other thing I worry about and would like to read your thoughts on, is how is AI going to affect poorer countries and if you believe it is going to create an even greater gap between poorer and richer countries.
I know AI is supposed to give anyone a chance, but I'm skeptikal of the chance poorer nations will have in the long term without independent/separate big local AI corporations (like the U.S. has) etc.
Love this! I shared a piece recently about using AI to create personal brand photos. Whilst on one hand it's wonderful to have technology that makes something expensive and time-consuming accessible for more people to elevate their business, I began to think about how having to DO uncomfortable things (I've always hated professional photo shoots because they are way outside my comfort zone) is so valuable because it's how we grow. If everything comes easy in an AI world - where is the growth? There's value in brainstorming - in stretching our minds. There's value in getting things wrong - so we learn and get better. I fear the lack of growth that comes with less discomfort. I want my kids to struggle with things! The cognitive debt is a huge, huge concern. And so is the 'discomfort debt', in my opinion.
Yes! this is something I have been sounding the alarm too as well and it’s not a matter of all together not utilizing AI but rather about thinking of ways to partner with it differently
💯!!
It's pretty stunning to see how enthusiastic some teachers are about AI.
Hi Sinéad, thanks for putting this together. I was at the AI for Good conference in Geneva this month and this was an area that was talked about. I started using ChatGPT early on when I was at the end of my MBA journey. I discovered exaclty what your article represents I didn't learn anything and certainly didn't remember anything 'I' wrote. I didn't really engage with the content. I didn't like that - I was there to learn. So I stopped after two weeks. But I wanted to keep testing it to see what it could do. Then I discovered the idea of simply going and back and forth with it. Now I have it trained to not write anything, but rather use it as a suggestive and ideation tool. This works quite well. But if you are lazy and don't care about the quality of content you are putting out - or the ethics around it - or the human centric aspect of whatever we are trying to get out of gen AI - then the cognitive decline will happen. But I think if we are aware of it - it can do the opposite - it can aid in increasing our cognitive processes if we use it responsibility. As much as we need systems and responsible, ethical organizations to regulate - I think the deeper issue, and more important will always be teaching and developing critical and ethical thinking practices. And as your article states - yes I think we are headed to a future where potentially AI handles a large amount of our tasks. I'm wondering if perhaps - as a benefit - this would allow us to return as humans to the time of Socrates where we are able to simply our lives and truly think clearly again - and think for ourselves. Who can say our ideas are our own with the constant flow of information and exposure. But maybe perhaps we can get back to that...unless the robots kill us all first! :)
This was a very insightful read. Thank you! I myself use ai alot, but I do question the output all the time. I'm going back to writing, even if it's basic journaling. Pure thoughts from mind to paper, and debating them.
Thank you! I am glad you found it insightful and even actionable. Thanks for sharing!
"using LLMs as sparring partners," I love how this phrase beautifully captures how AI can be used to enhance mental strength, or in other words, to grow human cognitive abilities. It's remarkable how much a person can learn from AI by simply asking questions. Sometimes I feel like that scene in WALL-E where the captain is asking, "Define Earth. Define seas. ... Define hoe down. " https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59M-t6Js6Q8
Awesome read as always. The key quote to me is "how do we create cognitive friction for the age of supercomputers?"
This is a question I continue to grapple with. What are the strategies needed so that we can get the most out of AI while also strengthening our cognitive capacities.
AI as teacher...or as sparring partner...is a useful metaphor. I'm just not sure what the specific techniques would look like.
Fwd: https://makinghistorycomealive.substack.com/
this line is a great summary of our problem. “use it or lose it” is not just a catchy phrase. It is a physiological reality. "A society without thinking skills could face faster cognitive decline and more unstable democracies". We will need an inspiration to keep (or make) our minds sharp. Great read!
Can you give an example of what it means when you suggest using LLM’s as sparring partners?