AI Is Making Thinking Easier, and That's the Problem

"The real risk of AI isn't that it occasionally gets things wrong. It's that it makes thinking optional. If you're not careful, your mind barely participates."

"Thinking is not a single act. It's a sequence. You generate ideas, you refine them, you test them, and only then do you expand them."

"AI is wonderful at accelerating the middle stages of thinking, but if you skip the first step, the generative one, the rest of the sequence collapses."

AI poses a significant risk by making thinking optional, which can lead to cognitive diminishment. The One Thought Rule encourages generating at least one original idea before consulting AI. This practice ensures that the mind remains engaged in the creative process. The Three-Role Rule helps maintain the brain's active role while leveraging AI's capabilities. Thinking is a sequence of generating, refining, testing, and expanding ideas, and skipping the initial generative step undermines clarity and influence.

Read at Psychology Today