AI is Making You Dumber

As the post title says, AI is getting people think less. And it's not a good thing.

Full disclosure - I use AI tools constantly. Copilot, ChatGPT, voice-to-text, Claude, etc. They're part of my daily workflow. So I understand how AI works, what it does and how it can impact the user.

And that's exactly why I wanted to share these thoughts.

Here's what I'm wondering: What if all this AI assistance is actually dulling our problem-solving skills?

I found a few signs that can signal that you're using the "raw dawg in you".

Sign 1: You run to AI for solution before thinking

Remember when you first started your business? Every problem was a puzzle you had to solve. Every challenge made your brain work in new ways. It was damn hard, right? But that's exactly what made you sharp.

Now? Let's be honest with ourselves for a minute.

Got a marketing email to write? AI.
Need to analyze some data? AI.
Customer service templates? AI.
Code for your website? AI.

"But I'm so much more productive now!" you say.

Yeah, obviously. We all are. I'm literally dictating this article right now instead of typing it. Will probably have an AI read it back to me for editing too. The irony isn't lost on me here.

But as we becoming more reliant on those tools we stop looking for solution inside of our brain...

Sign 2: When "chat" is down, you're lost.

But let's talk about what we're trading away. Remember when you had to:

• Actually think through problems step by step
• Research solutions deeply
• Build your own frameworks for solving issues
• Make mistakes and learn from them

You're probably thinking, "Right, but that was inefficient as hell."

Was it though?

Recently ChatGPT went down for a day and people (developers) lost their minds completely. And it wasn't just the memes and jokes. There was real panic there. People struggled to write code themselves.

I am aware they were exaggerating but if AI tool became unavailable that their entire workflow came to a halt - I'd be concerned.

Sign 3: You can no longer critically assess AI output

Let me take you back to the Stack Overflow days.

Remember those?

You'd spend hours searching through pages of solutions, most of them absolute garbage. But here's the thing – you learned so much in that process. Your brain was working, forming connections, building neural pathways.

You shuffle through pages and pages of "content" to find the right solution...and you knew what made sense for you and what didn't.

Today? Three keystrokes and you've got your answer.

No struggle.
No deep learning.
No neural pathway building.
Just... instant gratification.

The Solopreneur's Dilemma

By no means I recommend NOT using the tool that makes us more productive and effective.

I use them daily, but along with the use of those tools, we cannot let our brain muscle atrophy.

What can we do maintain:

• Think critically
• Ability to solve complex problems
• Make strategic decisions
• Adapt to changing situations

But what happens when we've trained ourselves to run to AI for every little challenge?

What happens when we've forgotten how to think deeply because we're used to getting instant answers?

IMHO soon we will have a great business opportunity for this:

The Gym for Your Brain

Look, I'm not saying we should abandon AI. That would be like saying we should all go back to doing accounting in paper ledgers. But we need to treat our brain like we treat our bodies.

You don't go to the gym because it's comfortable, right? You go because that discomfort leads to growth.

Maybe we need to start thinking about "brain gym days" where we:

• Solve problems without AI assistance
• Write content from scratch
• Code without Copilot
• Actually think through solutions before asking ChatGPT

Finding the Balance

Here's my challenge to you (and honestly, to myself too):

1. Start noticing when you're using AI as a crutch versus a tool
2. Set aside time for deep thinking without AI assistance
3. Practice solving problems the "hard way" sometimes
4. Build your own frameworks before asking AI for help

For a practical example of balancing AI assistance with original thinking, check out How I use AI to Write Content Like a Pro, where I explain my process for creating genuinely original content with AI as a partner, not a replacement.

Because let's be real – AI isn't going anywhere. But neither is the need for genuine human intelligence and creativity in business.

The Wake-Up Call

You know what's funny? I'm probably going to use AI to proofread this article. That's the world we live in now. But at least I thought it through, felt the discomfort, and put my brain through its paces writing it.

Maybe that's the key – not avoiding AI, but making sure we're still doing the heavy mental lifting when it matters.

Because when the AI goes down (and it will), or when you face a problem so unique that AI can't help (and you will), you better make sure your brain is still in shape to handle it.

Right?

Let's start having this conversation. Because if we don't, we might wake up one day and realize we've outsourced the most important muscle in our business – our ability to think critically and solve problems creatively.

And that, my friend, would be the real business killer.

P.S. Yes, I used voice-to-text to draft this. No, I'm not sure if that makes me part of the problem or just practical. Maybe both? At least I'm thinking about it. As I discuss in Your Business is a Reflection of Your Inner Self, the struggles we face personally often manifest in our businesses - including our relationship with technology.