AI dependence

If you can no longer write an email, make a simple decision or start a piece of work without checking with the AI first, there's probably some dependence going on. Using it a lot isn't bad; the problem appears when you stop understanding or checking what it does for you, or when your work grinds to a halt if it fails.

There are two different kinds of dependence worth separating. One is practical: your business is left limping if the service goes down, changes its terms or raises its price. The other is mental: you stop exercising things you used to do on your own, like writing, calculating or deciding, and they get rusty. What usually confuses people is believing heavy use and dependence are the same thing; someone can use it all day and still understand every step. Some warning signs: you accept answers without reading them, you struggle to get going without it or you couldn't explain what you've handed in. Writing the first draft yourself, or keeping an alternative at hand, helps a lot.

Given how much I use AI in my work, this question hits close to home. That's why I put it to the test in "A week using artificial intelligence for everything", a challenge in which I consulted it on decisions, texts, purchases and work. I tell you what that week says about dependence, where I stopped thinking and what I stopped asking it for afterwards.