One thing I have been noticing is that when AI answers everything instantly, people stop digging deeper themselves. It helps with speed, but it may reduce the small bits of learning that normally accumulate over time. The long-term effect on how we build shared knowledge will be interesting to watch.
When you struggle through a hard problem, you get two things: the answer, and a slightly sharper mind. AI gives you the first and skips the second.
That's fine once. Scaled across an entire generation of knowledge workers, over a decade that's the collapse Acemoglu is worried about.
We're not just outsourcing tasks. We're outsourcing the friction that makes people grow.
The collapse is real, but it isn't inevitable it’s mostly a design choice.
Most AI tools optimize for speed and answer quality, which removes the friction that builds understanding.
But tools could be designed differently: ask users for their attempt first,explain reasoning after answers or gradually remove guidance as skill grows.
The tricky part is that “makes you think harder” usually hurts engagement metrics.
Curious are there any tools already trying to do this well?
One thing I have been noticing is that when AI answers everything instantly, people stop digging deeper themselves. It helps with speed, but it may reduce the small bits of learning that normally accumulate over time. The long-term effect on how we build shared knowledge will be interesting to watch.
When you struggle through a hard problem, you get two things: the answer, and a slightly sharper mind. AI gives you the first and skips the second. That's fine once. Scaled across an entire generation of knowledge workers, over a decade that's the collapse Acemoglu is worried about. We're not just outsourcing tasks. We're outsourcing the friction that makes people grow.
The collapse is real, but it isn't inevitable it’s mostly a design choice. Most AI tools optimize for speed and answer quality, which removes the friction that builds understanding. But tools could be designed differently: ask users for their attempt first,explain reasoning after answers or gradually remove guidance as skill grows. The tricky part is that “makes you think harder” usually hurts engagement metrics. Curious are there any tools already trying to do this well?