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How to Use AI Without Getting Dumber

October 19, 2026 · 30 min

Show notes

AI can help you finish the work faster. But what happens when you stop practicing those skills? In The Collision: What AI Does to Us, MIT professor Eric So explores how tools that boost today’s productivity can quietly weaken tomorrow’s judgment—and how to use them without outsourcing your thinking. Then, in his 2024 book Irreplaceable: The Art of Standing Out in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, AI expert Pascal Bornet considers the other side of that challenge: developing the creativity, critical thinking, and authentic connections that make your contribution distinctive. How do we get more from AI without becoming less capable ourselves?⁠⁠⁠⁠

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