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AI as a Mental Mobility Scooter

(This is somewhat of a continuation to my AI, Technology, and the Death of Critical Thinking blog post, written largely due to the overwhelming sense of dread I feel when reading certain comments made by a particular kind of AI user.) I think the greatest threat from AI comes from how much we rely on LLMs (Large Language Models). I've encountered some people who, in my opinion, are already overly reliant on tools like ChatGPT or Grok to answer simple questions that would have previously required just a tiny bit of critical thinking. However, we are (perhaps unfortunately) a species almost solely focused on optimizing any task. The only reason tools exist at all is because humans are basically pathologically lazy. But unlike the printing press or the car, active users of LLMs often choose to set their brains aside and let machines do all the work. This means these tools are being used to replace thinking (even if they aren't really equipped to do so) making those who use them m...
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AI, Technology, and the Death of Critical Thinking

Of all the great 20th-century dystopian sci-fi novels, Brave New World stands above the rest, in my opinion, for its prescient understanding of how comfort and apathy can be used to control a population. However, what if, in reality, we were instead controlled by mental laziness, the path of least resistance? It was bad enough that we stopped needing to know how to search for information on our own, thanks to search engines like Google, which removed the need for effort and, possibly, some discernment when verifying information. But how will a technology like AI affect us? Many think AI's danger lies in its ability to replace human workers. However, more and more, I'm starting to believe that the real danger is that people will, again, like with search engines, offload more of their cognitive function onto technology. I've already seen people use ChatGPT responses as confirmation for utterly false information simply because it told them something was true. However, these C...
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