Is Your Brain Becoming Dull Due To Overuse Of AI? I am discussing here the ability to think using one’s own conscience and the role of technology in it. Interestingly, I myself have taken the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to solve this problem.
How this is possible and why it is important is discussed in detail here:
Let’s look at the typical routine of a 21st-century intellectual worker. As soon as we get to the office, we see an email waiting for us. We utilise AI to gain a brief understanding and even ask it to write a reply. If we need to prepare a report, we ask AI to create a draft, relieving us of the stress of staring at a blank page. And we are satisfied with what it has prepared.
We are slowly becoming a mere ‘verifier’ of a robot’s ideas. We have become a ‘tourist’ in our own work, where the ideas are not our own.
AI has become an indispensable mediator in our work and in our relationships, taking us away from our original creations.
Speaking of creativity, while AI may seem to provide new ideas on an individual level, on a collective level, it is reducing the diversity of ideas.
If we ask an AI to write something, we ourselves will not remember what we wrote. Reading a summary does not make as much sense as reading the entire document. In short, we have become like ‘middle managers’ for our own ideas.
When we do not use our own brains even on small tasks, the ‘muscles’ of our brains become weak. This can make us unable to solve complex problems that arise in the future. It is like finding a medicine instead of exercise and then wondering, ‘Why am I having trouble breathing?’
It should not only help us like obedient slaves, but also challenge our thinking. It is not just about getting things done quickly, but also about understanding the task better and asking the right questions. My team at Microsoft Research has developed such a prototype, which encourages people to think for themselves instead of relying on AI.
She reads, takes notes, and the AI challenges her with questions or new arguments.
We call this ‘provocation’. Here, the AI doesn’t do Clara’s job, but rather helps her sharpen her decision-making skills and expertise.
There are a few simple principles to it: the tool should directly engage people in the work, provide some challenging obstacles for thinking, and help them monitor their own thought processes.
Finally, we must consider one thing: what value would our human existence have if machines could think, speak, or feel for us? The ability to think clearly is the foundation of human freedom and progress. In the past, there was a fear that books or the Internet would replace our memory.
(Adwait Sarkar, a researcher at Microsoft, is an affiliate professor at the University of Cambridge. Excerpt translated from Advait Sarkar’s presentation at TED Talks.)