AI is changing my brain - yours too?

ChatGPT is changing how we write and think - uh oh!

Is AI Making Us Fast? Or Just Dumber?

A couple of days ago the nerds scientists over at MIT released an important research paper - Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task. It’s a fascinating read that has led to a bunch of juicy headlines. People want to jump to the conclusion that AI is rotting our brains, likely because the Terminator movies have radicalized us against robots. And while I don’t think we should take that bait, I do think it’s obvious that AI and Agents are changing the way we think - especially if you do a lot of writing.

It’s very fair to be alarmed any time technology is clearing, changing the way we think. However, we sure waste a lot of time thinking about things that AI can and should just do for us now. I really like that I don’t have to do days of desk research to find data to back up ideas I have for a deck for example.

The danger (according to the brilliant Ann Handley) is:

Thoughtstipation
noun | thought·sti·pa·tion | \ ˌthôt-stə-ˈpā-shən \

Writers Are Caught in a Speed vs. Substance Trap

If you’re a person who writes for a living (shout out to my PMMs!, I know it’s not the only thing we do but we should own the fact that we are writing the story of our products and business) you have to be aware of this. We are often stuck between a rock and a hard place, there is a lot of content to create but we need to do it well. AI has increased the desire from business leaders to move fast, and many?, all of us? are using it to do just that, but at what cost?

The true beauty and value of writing is often the process. What you skip with AI. The hard part, where you have to turn messy complicated ideas into clear, easy to ready copy. When you jump past that you might be able to crank out a messaging doc, but you won’t truly understand it. And then how do you know if its good? How do you apply it to something else? How do you defend it when it’s challenged?

AI speeds up our writing, but we risk losing clarity and depth if we don't carefully choose when and how to use it.

What to AI and What to Analog

To put it eloquently, if you work in business and write, you’d have to be a real doofus to ignore or fight AI. Don’t do that. But you have to know when to ignore it. When something is so important that you need to process it with your meat computer (your brain) so that you truly understand it. Those who win in this new world will certainly be the folks who have a great sense for this. Who instantly know what to analog and what to AI.

I see it today. A project plan will roll out that is generated by AI - great. But then people started rolling out the entire content of the plan by snapping their fingers with AI. Strategic positioning of a new product is a dangerous thing to let AI imagine. You gotta analog that one.

Key takeaways from this post:

1. Skynet is not real don’t let the boomer / doomer headlines worry you

2. Your brain still exits for a reason

3. Follow Ann Handley she’s real smart

4. Make it a point to improve your AI Sense. A new skill that people, especially Product Marketers, need to discern what and when to use AI. I’d write all my messaging docs if I were you. They are best when they are one page long so you’re not saving a bunch of time. On the other hand I would 100% AI the first draft of that how-to product focused blog post, especially if you’re using an LMM that is trained on your messaging docs.

What’s Your AI Sense Telling You?

Have you noticed AI change how you think? Are people going too far with AI? Is this obvious? Did the terminator movies radicalize you?

Reply to this email and tell me! Or comment in Substack.

Thanks for reading
-MA