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I'd argue that a huge portion of the working population have for a long time exhibited an inability to think - probably in part due to the meaningless, widget c

I'd argue that a huge portion of the working population have for a long time exhibited an inability to think - probably in part due to the meaningless, widget churning work they're tasked with - I don't think that'll change, however being empowered to learn and try things beyond your individual grasp by leveraging AI as for example a coding parter can unlock whole new ways of thinking in domains they'd otherwise not have the time to investigate. See also https://smcleod.net/2025/03/the-democratisation-paradox-what-history-teaches-us-about-ai/ https://smcleod.net/2025/03/the-democratisation-paradox-what... Watch out horses! The motorised carriage is going to do away with your ability to gallop!

add-sub-mul-div 1y ago
Nothing convinces me of an impending thought crisis than defenses of AI centering around comparisons to calculators or cars. The average person didn't take freedom from manual long division to unlock whole new ways of mastering math, they stopped doing math at the grocery store and became docile enough to allow the rise of modern consumer economics, Uber, Doordash, Klarna. And I don't know what invoking the obsolescence of horses is supposed to achieve. Yes, there are fewer horses for roles today. No, the remaining horse population hasn't been uplifted to whole new ways of thinking about labor and transportation. (I'm probably leaving myself open to a counter that today there are many horses living lives of leisure as pets.) You're not going to find a sufficient historical analogue to general thought being the skill we no longer have to practice, you have to engage in new thought about the qualitative difference of this situation.
- Terr_ 1y ago
  > comparisons to calculators Yeah, the current LLM dilemma isn't really analogous. Offloading a task like multiplying two numbers is (A) safely reliable and (B) isn't delegating planning or decision-making. > The average person [...] stopped doing math at the grocery store and became docile enough to allow the rise of modern consumer economics, Uber, Doordash, Klarna. Disagree on this one: Wasteful spending by consumers (and vendors encouraging it) is a very old problem, much older than calculators or any withering of daily algebra skills. If anything, people have better/faster capabilities to see the "big picture" of how much a service is ripping them off than ever before. I think a better explanation would be stuff like the psychological distance created when using digital payments (as opposed to cash or handwritten checks) and companies getting better tools for advertising/brain-hacking.
bicepjai 1y ago
>> Watch out horses! The motorised carriage is going to do away with your ability to gallop! Love the analogy. Gets your point across without much description needed
- miles 1y ago
  https://old.reddit.com/r/OpenAI/comments/1likqr5/learn_to_use_ai_or_uh/ https://old.reddit.com/r/OpenAI/comments/1likqr5/learn_to_us...
commandlinefan 1y ago
More than just that, thinking looks just like "slacking" to people whose entire existence is dedicated to rooting out "slackers". Thinking can't be planned down to the hour months ahead of time in an Excel spreadsheet the way MBA's are taught that all worthwhile work should be.

add-sub-mul-div 1y ago

Nothing convinces me of an impending thought crisis than defenses of AI centering around comparisons to calculators or cars. The average person didn't take freedom from manual long division to unlock whole new ways of mastering math, they stopped doing math at the grocery store and became docile enough to allow the rise of modern consumer economics, Uber, Doordash, Klarna. And I don't know what invoking the obsolescence of horses is supposed to achieve. Yes, there are fewer horses for roles today. No, the remaining horse population hasn't been uplifted to whole new ways of thinking about labor and transportation. (I'm probably leaving myself open to a counter that today there are many horses living lives of leisure as pets.) You're not going to find a sufficient historical analogue to general thought being the skill we no longer have to practice, you have to engage in new thought about the qualitative difference of this situation.

Terr_ 1y ago
> comparisons to calculators Yeah, the current LLM dilemma isn't really analogous. Offloading a task like multiplying two numbers is (A) safely reliable and (B) isn't delegating planning or decision-making. > The average person [...] stopped doing math at the grocery store and became docile enough to allow the rise of modern consumer economics, Uber, Doordash, Klarna. Disagree on this one: Wasteful spending by consumers (and vendors encouraging it) is a very old problem, much older than calculators or any withering of daily algebra skills. If anything, people have better/faster capabilities to see the "big picture" of how much a service is ripping them off than ever before. I think a better explanation would be stuff like the psychological distance created when using digital payments (as opposed to cash or handwritten checks) and companies getting better tools for advertising/brain-hacking.

bicepjai 1y ago

>> Watch out horses! The motorised carriage is going to do away with your ability to gallop! Love the analogy. Gets your point across without much description needed

miles 1y ago
https://old.reddit.com/r/OpenAI/comments/1likqr5/learn_to_use_ai_or_uh/ https://old.reddit.com/r/OpenAI/comments/1likqr5/learn_to_us...

commandlinefan 1y ago

More than just that, thinking looks just like "slacking" to people whose entire existence is dedicated to rooting out "slackers". Thinking can't be planned down to the hour months ahead of time in an Excel spreadsheet the way MBA's are taught that all worthwhile work should be.