That's right! And what human activity do these AI tools replace? A calculator is only useful if you are able to put in the right formula, which means you still

That's right! And what human activity do these AI tools replace? A calculator is only useful if you are able to put in the right formula, which means you still need to understand the problem and its solution. On the other hand, you lose the ability to verify that the solution is actually correct, beyond double checking that all your inputs are okay. And if your solution cannot be found through the operations supported by the calculator then you're just stuck and need to think of another way. Modern AI is much more advanced because users only need to ask questions. But that means people who rely too much on it will lose the ability to understand the solution. Or, even worse, they will never acquire that ability in the first place if they offload all intellectual tasks from primary school onwards to an AI. If people leave the thinking to an AI, they will lose the ability to think on their own. Of course responsible users can and will use AI to significantly boost their learning and capabilities, but the question is what will happen to society at large over long periods of time. If the dominant attitude is that only results and outcomes matter, then I think that we are heading towards an intellectual wasteland. And that is kind of the point. Tools both augment and limit human capabilities, so that we gradually forget what was before the tool existed. But a tool like AI could limit people's ability so much that we become collectively blind to its limitations. And that is exactly the local maximum of cultural development that started this thread of discussion.