Don't Let AI Make You Artificial

I know you might have been fed up by reading all the AI content that has been there on the Internet. I feel that too. We started from correcting grammars to writing essays and to now changing the tone as well. The writing has lost its authenticity and lacks personality to it. I won't say I haven't used it, and yes, I am not different or better than others.

Now it takes effort, in fact more effort than ever, to produce a coherent piece all by ourselves. Sometimes it gets challenging to put down our thoughts in the AI chatbox itself. That process is like, damn, I now have to make it understand the whole problem statement, provide enough context, give it examples and some boundaries, for it to produce a sharp and to-the-point work that doesn't feel like AI slop.

We've Delegated Everything

We use LLMs in almost every part of our life. From debugging a coding issue, to formatting the email, to planning the itinerary, to comparing between different products, to analyzing different situations. In some cases, even asking it to choose for us, as if we no longer have that mental faculty at all.

It's Not the Calculator, and Here's Why

I agree, some people might compare this event with the invention of the calculator. It rendered the usefulness of mental math almost to the point where it's now seen as too much. Nobody is expecting you to multiply 245 * 2551, right? Yeah, 100% with you on this.

But comparing the advent of AI with the advent of the calculator is a bit of a stretch in my opinion. AI touches every aspect of your life. You can now talk to it as your companion, you can ask it to act as your advisor, counsellor, and what not. You can now delegate almost all of your work to it, and it will do the job 50% of the time. Of course this percentage will increase as we advance in this field and put more into the research.

There is no thinking, no structure, no mental map, no direction. And you are expecting that it won't impact me whatsoever? You are no longer able to write a full sentence, and you are defending that it has no impact on us?

The Vicious Cycle

There have been reports where the new grads who come to work are less likely to learn new things, because they are heavily reliant on AI. All they do is write a prompt to the AI and it does the job, and the senior just uses AI to get it reviewed and then deploys it to production. The only one winning is the AI companies. More tokens, more money. It is a vicious cycle. Usage of more AI results in dumbing down of the mental faculties, which in turn will increase the reliance on AI, and hence it will keep on going.

If You Can't Even Judge for Yourself, Are You for Real?

I am guilty of doing this, I won't deny. There used to be a time where I asked the AI, "what is right for me?" Instead of using it to give me pros and cons and deciding based on it myself, I delegated that faculty to the AI.

Do you now see the problem?

The Burnout Nobody Talks About

I am a senior software engineer with over 6 years of experience at the time of writing. I have spent most of my initial years without AI, and I have started heavily utilizing it in almost all fields of my life. From asking it to make a diet plan, to a study plan, to propose an architecture for this problem, to give me a design for this, etc, etc, etc.

And I have started feeling a few things, that I don't know if you share. I get easily burnt out solving a problem with the help of AI. Yes, I get more work done, but it doesn't feel so. It just feels empty and hollow, and sometimes no learning at all. I come out of it more irritated and feeling uneasy. Leave a comment if you feel this way as well.

Your Brain Is Plastic (And That's the Problem)

If I go to space now, my bones will start to weaken because they are not being used. The same is the case with the mind as well. If you don't use it to produce something on your own, you will lose grey matter. The synapses will weaken because our brain is plastic. No usage means those links are gonna weaken, and eventually you will feel like you are nothing without the AI. Every task will feel alien to you. Even a simple question might haunt you because you were too dependent on the AI.

"But Won't I Fall Behind?"

What do I do? Shall I stop using AI? But if I do so, I will fall behind my coworkers. I won't be able to do the work as fast as them. People are vibe coding and starting million dollar businesses. I will be left behind.

Yes, if you stop using AI you will fall behind, and that is not the way going forward. AI is not here transiently, rather for the long term, and we need to understand how to navigate so that it doesn't affect our mental faculty.

Use AI as a Companion, Not a Replacement

Use AI as a companion and not the other way around. When I say companion, you will do all the mental work. Only delegate something that you are comfortable you will be able to produce without it.

For example, you will do the high level design, and you will do the low level design. What you will ask the AI is to do the implementation. It is like you designing the building and hiring the workers to build it for you. The workers are following your command, your plan of action.

You can write an essay all by yourself and ask the AI to correct grammar, or point out weak sections and what could be improved, and then you provide a revision.

You use AI to compare between products, but you take the decision on which one is better for you, not the other way round.

Protect Your Sanity

I know this all feels like friction, and it is. Because this is how you protect your faculty and not mindlessly give it away to AI.

Protect your sanity and your intelligence, and don't let it make you artificial.