Hey friends!
The other day, one of y'all asked me a question that I'm finally ready to answer: Kim, don’t you feel like you’re cheating when you use ChatGPT?
And you know what? I don’t. While it's a fair question that we should consider (Especially if you’re still in school! Don’t get caught up!), I’m not sure if that’s the most pressing question we’re currently facing in modern AI-enabled times.
The question that keeps me up at night—is: what happens to our desire to think deeply when we don’t have to do it anymore and there's relatively little incentive for it?
The normalization of AI chatbots is here. Not coming, not on the horizon—here. These tools will be built into every app, every workflow, every classroom, every workplace. There will be pressure to optimize, to move faster, to deliver more. You’ll be expected to use AI, and use it well.
As a Neurodivergent Girlie, I love a tool that helps lighten the load. Cal Newport introduced me to the idea of rhetorical load-sharing, and I’m an absolutely in favor of that.
I’ll happily let a chatbot help me with grunt work so I can stay focused on the most meaningful, highest productivity stuff. But the line between mindless and critical becomes increasingly blurry as the models improve.
Every time I got to the ChatGPT app, I have to ask: Am I doing the hard thinking, or am I outsourcing the part of my brain that I used to take so much pride in?
In the podcast I referenced my beloved Franklin Bookman electronic thesaurus dictionary. Back then, finding the perfect word was a joyful labor. Now, it’s a prompt away.
Like I said the last time I discussed this, friction is where the magic happens. Friction is where ideas deepen, skills sharpen, and clarity emerges.
So no, I don’t think using AI is cheating. But I do think overrelying on these tools will make us mentally lazy if we’re not careful. I still want to struggle just a little bit.
I’m not anti-AI. I’m anti-cognitive decline. I’m anti-sparklessness. I’m pro-effort. I’m pro-joy-in-the-struggle. And I’ll always be pro-people who do the work because y’all know I stan excellence.
So let’s use the tools. But let’s not let the tools use us.
💜Kim
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