The ultimate "academic genius" technique: 3 skills you shouldn't leave to artificial intelligence.
HHT - Current AI tools are truly powerful. You ask an AI, and you get an answer almost instantly. You give it a math problem, and the AI solves it faster than you. You ask it to write a paragraph, and the AI writes something that sounds more "accurate" than you. So, is AI really helping us become better, or is it making us forget what we used to be good at? Are we inadvertently "ceding" crucial skills to AI?
The brain operates on the "use or lose" principle.
Numerous scientific studies have confirmed the similarities between the brain and muscles: For both, the principle " use what you keep, don't use what you lose " holds true.
In other words, when you constantly challenge your brain, practice new skills, or adapt to change, neural connections are strengthened. When you delegate some tasks to other tools, the part of the brain responsible for that task is used less and less.
Generally speaking, like any skill, if you don't actively maintain it, it will gradually fade. For example, can you quickly recite the five phone numbers you call most often right now? Probably not. Before smartphones existed and people couldn't save contact information, almost everyone knew a few of their frequently used numbers. But now… it's much harder!
3 skills you shouldn't "give" to AI.
Independent thinking
When this skill diminishes, you won't be sure whether your opinion is right or wrong. Even when faced with a problem, you won't know where to begin without AI support – and you know, over-reliance on anything is never good.
AI can synthesize data, but it lacks personal experience and your own thoughts. For example, AI might write a very good essay, but if your teacher asks you to elaborate on a particular idea, you need to think for yourself; you can't just call on the AI. Therefore, independent thinking, reasoning, and defending your point of view are essential skills you must maintain.
Questioning skills
AI is very good at answering questions, but knowing how to ask the right, insightful questions—questions that expand on and delve deeper into the issue—is a skill we should maintain and cultivate. Because without good questions, there are no good answers. That's why, when taking courses related to data, the first step we must learn is how to ask questions.
One of our teachers once reminded us to reflect on our own actions if the questions we ask the AI are simply "What is the answer?", instead of "Why is this part like this?", "Why is this approach to solving the problem incorrect?"...
Assessment and judgment
If you're new to AI, you'll find its answers surprisingly good and accurate. But if you use AI enough, you'll realize that it can be wrong quite a bit (as the warnings written on all AI tools indicate), but the mistakes are very… convincing. That is, if we immediately trust an answer that sounds reasonable without checking it, we'll end up using that incorrect answer from the AI!
Of course, there are also instances where the AI is clearly wrong. For example, once we were compiling and categorizing some news articles, and the Claude tool – which is supposed to be very intelligent! – categorized the news about the famous American golfer Tiger Woods into… wildlife news. Perhaps Claude based this on the word " tiger ."
But in many other cases, the flaws of AI aren't so obvious. So when using AI, you still need to constantly think and constantly verify – these skills are important in everyday life, not just when using AI!
Checklist for using AI intelligently.
Saying "no to AI" would be unrealistic and contrary to current trends. However, in an intensive AI course at Vanderbilt University (USA), the professor suggested a simple principle: Use AI after you 've thought for yourself, not instead of thinking for yourself; and use AI to think more , not less.
Therefore, to maintain and improve the three skills mentioned above, we should apply this checklist :
Think first, ask later: Before using AI for a problem, take a minute or two to think it over, jot down a few points of your own, and then ask.
Use AI to "review," not to do the work for you: For assignments you complete yourself, you can ask the AI to review or provide feedback.
Always hone your questioning skills: Questions for the AI such as "Why is this step correct, and why is this step incorrect?", "Where did you get this information from?", "Explain your reasoning in this step"... are essential.
Maintain a "non-AI" aspect of your life: Always keep your brain and emotions exercised by writing in a journal, reflecting on personal issues (you can ask the AI for help after you've thought it through), learning new skills, reading books, etc.
AI is not a "rival".
…but if you always let AI think and act for you, you will gradually forget how to think and act for yourself. Obviously, AI will get better and better, but what makes each of us different is not knowing how to use AI, but rather our independent, unique way of thinking when AI is not around.
Therefore, there are skills you shouldn't "give up"! Because if you "give up," those skills will fade away, day by day. But if you actively maintain and practice them, they will also get better and better, day by day.