AI: Brainrot Inducer or Cognitive Multiplier?

We've decided that AI makes us dumb, brainrot is real, and we're all forgetting how to write code.

This was my initial assumption, too.

But I've come to see things a little differently.

I actually think the opposite is happening.

The idea that we're all forgetting to write code is true, but misses the much bigger and more important point.

Yes, we are losing those reflexes for manual coding just like our ancestors lost the reflex for spear fishing or pottery.

But did society regress just because our ancestors forgot how to spear fish?

Of course not.

A more recent example is the early-early days of programming. There used to be people who knew how to program in assembly, and yes, I know some people still take pride in this, but realistically? We have collectively forgotten how to write assembly — yet society moves forward faster than ever.

I believe the same is happening today. We're forgetting to write manually, write with pen and paper, and to code by hand. But that is ok.

On the other side of things, I feel my brain getting sharper, not duller, from having constant access to information.

At any moment of any day, I can now open my phone and find an answer to any question. And not only can I get instant access to information — I can ask for corrections and feedback on my world view — my mental model of how things work.

I think this is the real, insane superpower of AI that nobody is talking about. AI can give us extremely precise information to patch up gaps in our knowledge, allowing every person to have a more complete and accurate world view.

At the same time, it does require thought because AI is frequently wrong and hallucinates, so the user must actually engage with the AI and think critically.

Knowing what questions to ask and how to ask them is becoming an ever more important skill. What started out as "prompt engineering"— has quietly become a generalized skill of extreme intellectual precision via language. Millions of people are now practicing the art of saying exactly what they mean, every single day.

My ability to refine specific language around asking questions has dramatically improved, as has my ability to detect weird information that feels wrong or out of place. I'm constantly pushing back on the AI and disagreeing with it.

All of this said, there are still major problems with hallucinations and sycophancy which are unresolved, and which pose major threats.

Stories of AI psychosis are concerning and must be explored.

But the one thing that I am thoroughly convinced of is that those who choose to use AI to expand and deepen their thinking will receive a massive cognitive boost and form a more complete mental model of how the world works.

In a sense, I think of AI as a curiosity multiplier — but this requires a baseline level of curiosity to multiply.