The Mechanized Mind: AI’s Hidden Impact on Human Thought

Conn McQuinn

Jul 4

First, if we don't have sufficient in-brain skill and knowledge, we won't know what to ask the AI to do or how to interpret the products it creates. Second, if we turn over our thinking to AI, we are doing ourselves harm. I don't mean that in the metaphorical sense. Our brains are like muscles, and the harder they are used, the st... See more

As Donald Knuth put it: “Ai has by now succeeded in doing essentially everything that requires ‘thinking’ but has failed to do most of what people and animals do without thinking …”

What do we have left that is ours and ours alone? Sensorimotor skills that are all but automatic, yes. Consciousness, yes. Emotions. Instinct. Appetites, impulses and dr... See more

The first step is to understand the fundamental difference between humans and AIs. We are analog, chemical beings, with emotions and feelings. Compared with machines, we think slowly—and we act too fast, failing to consider the long-term consequences of our behavior (which AI can help predict). So we should not compete with AI; we should use it. At... See more