The AI Shortcut - When Magic Becomes a Crutch

AI is here, it’s causing massive amounts of disruption and it feels like most people don’t realize it. A co-worker put it in perspective when he said

We are the tip of the spear and it’s already flying through the air

Working in tech, it’s easy to lose touch with what most people are doing when they sit down at a computer. It’s less about using the brand new tools and more about getting work done.

The Initial Magic

“Check this out! I just take the bullet points I want, ask it to make it a newsletter, and bam! It spits out the newsletter for me!”

A teacher who is pressed for time, overworked and in need of getting some clean prose out to parents quickly has just discovered ChatGPT.

It’s magic.

A few words typed in invocation and the spell is cast. Out comes a perfectly formatted newsletter, no eye of newt necessary. Like any good spell though, this one comes with a hidden cost that may not be realized at first.

LLMs are great at generating text that sounds correct. Having consumed billions of words, some acquired through dubious means, they can predict how language works. But, are they actually a monkey’s paw in disguise? What is the cost of tossing your wishes into the waiting prompt?

Looking at the newsletter example above, there’s probably not much harm. It’s an ancillary role for the teacher to produce newsletters. Yes, there is a distinct lack of personality in the newsletter, which is a shame because that particular teacher has a personality that makes the world a better place. Yet the goal of informing parents about the happenings in class gets done and the teacher has more time to focus on his students.

The Hidden Costs

This is just the beginning of discovering what LLMs are capable of. Where does the teacher go from here? From what I’ve already seen it becomes easy, if not expected, to start to use this new wonder of technology for more and more things. It’s so fast, and easy, even when it’s not.

Once you’ve discovered the power of AI, you start to realize it doesn’t always do exactly what you want it to do. You can easily spend more time prompting than it would take to actually create the thing you are attempting to get the AI to spit out. A recent study found software engineers were 20% less productive when crafting AI prompts compared to coding themselves. Suddenly you are reliant on the tool instead of yourself. It’s a dangerous path to wander down.

Maybe, you are still in school, if not, think back to that time. Things like multiplication tables and mental math are par for the course. It’s expected and something that is routinely practiced. It becomes easy. As time passes and you stop using these skills, your ability fades. Simple arithmetic suddenly needs a calculator to complete. The same is true with any mental process. The less you use it, the more those mental muscles atrophy.

There is also the other side: failing to acquire new skills. With the power AI provides, it’s easy to outsource learning. If you run into a problem you don’t know how to solve, the magical box on your screen can give you an answer. It might be wrong, but it’ll be wrong with authority. I’ve written before about conversations around learning in a world with AI. I still hold that the fundamental process of learning needs to remain. Even if you won’t need to use all of the skills you learn, the foundation is important.

Finding Balance

AI is magic, we are still discovering the cost of using it. Embracing it comes with costs. I think like many things, the key is to use it responsibly. It’s a powerful tool that works best as a collaborator, not a replacement.

I’m looking forward to the day where Jarvis can take my notes and we can talk through them together. The path forward isn’t choosing between human or AI creation, it’s finding the sweet spot where these two amplify creation.

The question isn’t if we should use AI. It’s whether we are strong enough to resist handing the reins over to the machine.