Is AI Making Us Smart or Super Lazy?

Every technology that has reduced effort changed cognition. It made us, as humans, rely on them. It might be a simple sentence, but it carries a heavy truth. When calculators became common, we stopped doing longer calculations in our heads. 

Ever wondered why? 

It's because of the speed and accuracy. You typed an equation. You got an answer. Instantly. The result is that we gradually stopped mental arithmetic. 

Now, AI is also doing the same. But it might be digging deeper into something, which is outsourcing thinking itself. So, the danger is not dependence (because we have to keep up with the tech). It is an unexpected dependence. 

 The Historical Pattern of Panic

Every intellectual leap has triggered fear. We have been witnessing this for years, with a solid history to rely upon. The list is way longer. I have picked some of the main examples:

Johannes Gutenberg, a German inventor, came up with the idea of the printing press. Scholars were worried that people would stop memorizing texts. Similarly, when the calculator was introduced, predictions related to the loss of arithmetic skills were higher.

As search engines began to dominate, critics warned that users would skim rather than study. 

But, still:

• Literacy expanded
• Scientific progress amplified
• Access to knowledge increased
• Innovation scaled

So, history suggests something important:

Tools rarely destroy intelligence. They reshape it.

Effort Shapes Our Brain

Cognitive science shows that our brain reallocates resources based on necessity. So, when something becomes easy, we invest our efforts elsewhere. 

This is exactly the scenario with Artificial Intelligence. Let's understand this with some examples. 

Before digital navigation appeared (like Google Maps), we built detailed mental maps. After digital maps:

• We built route-selection skills
• We relied on system trust rather than our memory

Similarly, before search engines, we used to memorize facts. But after they appeared, we came to know how to find them. 

So, the change is subtle but powerful. 

The question here is not how AI changes thinking; it is about what kind of thinking it sharpens and strengthens. 

The Erosion of Critical Thinking

The craze of AI is everywhere. Isn't it?  It's because of its precision, speed, and efficiency. 

You need to reply to an email, create a post, image, or video. You typed a prompt, and boom, the magic has started. 

But have you ever thought that the over-reliance can actually kill our ability to think critically? We have stopped digging deeper for information, and we stopped gaining skills that we actually do in the dig. 

In learning science, this is called desirable difficulty. A state where efforts are required to truly encode information in the brain. If it's an easy task, we don't remember it. 

Understand this: If AI summarizes every book we read, then we're not actually reading and learning; we are getting the data points. 

Also, the unexpected dependency on AI is one of the major hindrances that is gradually degrading our ability to think critically. 

Where is AI Making us Smarter?

It is true that we must not be fully dependent on technology. It can impact negatively, such as diminishing our ability to think and analyze. But, it has to be admitted that Artificial Intelligence has some upsides too. One of the pros of this technology is that it works as a cognitive multiplier. It allows you to:

• Draft content in minutes
• Analyze complex data 
• Brainstorming at scale
• Translate languages
• Write code 

This way, Artificial Intelligence reduces friction, and friction often breaks momentum. 

So... Smart or Super Lazy?

The honest answer is that both can be possible. AI is the most intimate tech that we have ever created. It collaborates in reasoning. Shapes expressions. Accelerate ideation and content delivery. 

This is because it magnifies habits. If you use AI to think, then it will certainly weaken your intellectual ability. 

And, if you use AI to challenge your thinking, it will sharpen your ability to dig deeper into the context. The difference lies in intention. 

Think before you leave...