We Are Slowly Losing Our Intelligence to AI
We’re spending way too much time worrying about whether AI will replace our jobs.
And in the process, we’re leaving behind the tangible skills we should be learning, while mindlessly chasing the next AI hype train.
Take a moment and think about this—you reading this blog, for example. I mean, isn’t that why you’re here? Somewhere deep down, you probably agree with what I’m saying, right?
On one hand, there’s you, consumed with anxiety about how AI might impact your future.
And on the other, AI companies are busy running flashy marketing campaigns, hyping up their latest model releases, and fueling even more fear about the arrival of "AGI."
This creates a vicious cycle—your fear fuels their hype, and their hype amplifies your fear.
Instead of focusing on growth and building your skills, you’re caught in an endless loop of worry and distraction.
You:
“Oh, o1-Pro just launched! I need to try it.”
“This model is incredible; it’s definitely going to replace my job.”
“I have no reason to learn coding again, since o1 can do it in seconds”
“If AI is this good in generating videos and images, why do I have to learn photography or videography”
This article:
Stop it!
These internal conversations are sabotaging your drive to pursue what I’ll soon explain as the key components of intelligence.
My goal with this piece is to help you break free from those thoughts—or at least understand why it’s crucial to keep building your skills, whether independently or with the aid of AI.
It’s no doubt that an inflection point of AI is coming - It’s the moment when AI stops being a tool that helps you work faster and smarter—and starts replacing you altogether. But I want to prepare you for this moment; where you can thrive irrespective of the skills that you have, and learn to adapt.
Welcome to The LockedIN Mindset Series! This week, we will explore how to regain control from AI and build the intelligence needed for the life we want to live.
The Bigger Problem: Diminishing Intelligence
Our intelligence is slowly diminishing because we are giving away our time and craft to AI. We are becoming lazy.
Rather than learning a new programming language concept, we let ChatGPT write the code.
Rather than writing our thoughts in a newsletter, we turn to Claude to draft a robotic piece without any of our imprint.
We can’t even think properly anymore. At the slightest request for our brain to do some work, we let a model do the thinking for us.
This is hurting us.
And if you’re wondering what intelligence really is—it’s the ability to learn, understand, use knowledge to solve problems, make decisions, and generate new ideas.
Are we doing any of this now? That’s an important question that we have to ask ourselves.
Let me give you an example: I recently purchased a book that I thought would educate me on the intended topic it was written about.
The book was well advertised and branded as something I could genuinely learn from. I paid for it and received access to the digital copy.
To my greatest surprise, the book was entirely written by AI. It was poorly formatted and lacked the qualities of a great learning material.
If I simply wanted to learn about the topic with AI, I could have asked ChatGPT to generate text in response to my question.
However, I wanted to learn from the writer’s innovative ideas. Unfortunately, because the writer was lazy, they let AI do all the writing for them.
They didn’t even try to humanize it. It was a terrible reading experience. I had to ask for a refund.
This is a scary reality that we now live in. We have to reevaluate and take back control.
What Is Intelligence, Really?
When you think of intelligence, you might associate it with being “smart.” But it’s much deeper than that.
Let’s go back to when you were a kid.
You learned something new, processed it in your own way, and could recall it later. This ability to recall and use information is memory.
Then, you used that information to think through new tasks or make decisions. This is reasoning.
Proper reasoning lets you solve problems, overcome challenges, and find innovative solutions. That’s problem-solving.
But it doesn’t stop there. Intelligence also includes creativity—the ability to generate ideas and think outside the box.
That’s how you’ve been able to form new ideas, express them, and have a mind of your own.
In summary, intelligence, from a cognitive perspective, includes:
Learning: Acquiring new knowledge or skills.
Memory: Retaining and recalling information.
Reasoning: Logical thinking and decision-making.
Problem-Solving: Overcoming challenges and finding solutions.
Creativity: Generating innovative ideas or thinking outside the box.
How AI Mimics Intelligence
AI today simulates aspects of human intelligence. It processes vast amounts of data to generate outputs that resemble learning, memory, reasoning, problem-solving, and even creativity.
But these processes are fundamentally different from how humans operate.
AI doesn’t truly learn—it identifies patterns in pre-existing data. It doesn’t possess memory in the human sense, but rather stores and retrieves information from its training dataset.
AI’s so-called reasoning is statistical prediction, not true logic or understanding. Its problem-solving relies on algorithms, and its creativity is a recombination of existing ideas, not original thought.
The issue is, while AI lacks genuine intelligence, we are increasingly allowing it to perform these tasks for us.
By handing over our learning, reasoning, and creativity to AI, we rob ourselves of the opportunity to practice and develop these essential abilities.
AI hasn’t achieved true intelligence, but our reliance on it is diminishing our own. This is the challenge we must address.
Tools and Intelligence: A History of Balance
To fully see why this is a challenge we must address, lets see how we’ve adapted to new technologies.
As humans, we’ve always adapted to new tools while maintaining our intelligence.
Take calculators. Even with their invention, we still learned mathematical concepts like the Pythagorean theorem. Calculators didn’t replace learning—they improved it.
Or consider smartphones. We use them to save contacts, but we still memorize the phone numbers of our loved ones.
The point is, we found a balance. Tools complemented our intelligence without replacing it.
But now, we are slowly delegating our cognitive processes to AI, and this imbalance will hurt us in the future.
What Does It Mean to Delegate Intelligence to AI?
When we delegate intelligence to AI, we do one or more of the following:
Outsourcing Thinking
We let AI do the critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity for us. Just three years ago, AI (Large Language Models) wasn’t this advanced, and we still had to rely on our brains. Now, AI might slowly be replacing our thinking gear, but at what cost?Automating Decision-Making
AI is now making choices for us without us fully engaging in the process. Imagine taking pictures of clothing options while shopping and asking AI to pick for you. You rob your brain of the opportunity to evaluate and decide based on personal preferences.Reducing Cognitive Effort
When you don’t come up with ideas or solve problems on your own, you reduce the mental effort needed for growth. Constantly relying on AI for answers, we bypass the struggle and persistence that sharpens our intelligence.
The Goal: Regain Balance
We’ve always been motivated by technological advances, and that’s a good thing. But we have to address the problem at hand.
If you overcome this over-reliance, you’ll retain a mind of your own and also use AI as a tool to amplify your capabilities.
Here’s how you can regain balance:
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Steps to Overcome Over-Reliance on AI
Develop Cognitive Resilience
In a paper by Nature Communications - “The Eighty-Five Percent Rule for Optimal Learning,” researchers set out to find the best way for humans—or even machines—to learn new ideas.
They discovered there’s a sweet spot where learning happens fastest. It’s when the difficulty isn’t too easy or too hard.
The magic number is - You get things right 85% of the time and make mistakes 15% of the time.Here’s why that matters: when you make mistakes at this rate, your brain becomes more plastic—more adaptable and ready to learn.
Those moments right after an error are when your brain is most prepared to grow.
The struggle to overcome a challenge fires up your neural connections, making them stronger and sharper.But let’s be honest, we’re skipping this entire process now. The second we hit a snag, we throw it into ChatGPT or some other AI tool.
No thinking, no effort—just copy, paste, and move on. And while that might feel efficient, it’s cutting us off from the real work of learning.
When you let AI do all the heavy lifting, you miss the chance to stretch your brain, solve problems, and get better at what you do.
Learning is a journey of figuring things out, making mistakes, and then having that “aha” moment - so it is more than just finding the right answer.
Real growth happens in that “aha” moment.
But when you skip the journey, you lose the chance to build resilience—the ability to tackle hard things and come out stronger on the other side.So, what can you do? Push yourself.
Take on tasks that force your brain to work. Let yourself make mistakes.
Instead of running straight to AI for answers, try solving the problem yourself first.
Use AI to refine or clarify, but not to replace your effort.
The goal is to stay engaged and keep your brain active, not hand over all the work to a machine.This is how you build real cognitive resilience—by embracing the challenge, leaning into the mistakes, and letting your brain do what it was built to do: grow, adapt, and thrive.
Practice Intentional Learning
Practice Intentional Learning rather than passive learning.
What is Intentional Learning?
It is a cognitive process aimed at learning as a goal rather than an incidental outcome.
This approach plays a significant role in improving intelligence and promoting brain health.In the paper "Learning Differentially Reorganizes Brain Activity and Connectivity," researchers explain that intentional learning stimulates neuroplasticity—the brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections.
This means that actively engaging in the learning process strengthens the brain's adaptability, improving memory, problem-solving skills, and critical thinking.The goal here is to build independence and reduce reliance on external tools, especially AI.
Instead of simply consuming information or offloading tasks, we need to take charge of our learning by actively engaging with materials, solving problems manually, and reflecting on the process.
Intentional learning is about doing the hard work that trains your brain to think, adapt, and grow.To approach learning differently:
Set clear objectives for what you want to learn and why.
Engage deeply by taking notes, asking questions, and testing your understanding.
Use tools like AI sparingly, only to clarify concepts, not to replace effort.
Apply what you’ve learned in real-world scenarios to reinforce your knowledge.
In 2025, one of my personal goals is to learn two new programming languages/frameworks without heavy reliance on AI, but using AI as a complementary tool.
My hope is that this will help me develop expertise while retaining knowledge.Focus on Interpersonal Skills
AI is everywhere, creating content and automating tasks, but it can’t replace what makes us human.
It can’t connect emotionally, build trust, or communicate with authenticity.
That’s why interpersonal skills like emotional intelligence, empathy, and clear communication are more important than ever— to help you stand out and also improve your intelligence.Interpersonal skills are directly tied to intelligence.
Engaging with others challenges your brain in ways AI tools never can.
Listening actively, reading emotions, and responding thoughtfully require problem-solving, reasoning, and adaptability—key components of intelligence.
When you work on these skills, you’re improving your relationships, training your brain to think critically, process complex information, and generate new ideas.AI-generated work is starting to look the same. What stands out now is your ability to add a human touch.
Empathy and authenticity create meaningful connections, while emotional awareness makes you a better leader and collaborator.
These are skills that AI cannot and will never replicate, and they are the very abilities that make intelligence dynamic and adaptable.To strengthen your intelligence through interpersonal skills, start simple.
- When someone speaks, truly listen.
- Think about how emotions—yours and theirs—affect actions and outcomes.
- Consider perspectives other than your own before responding.
- Communicate clearly and genuinely.
These practices push your brain to engage in reasoning, empathy, and creativity—all while building stronger connections.In a time where AI is becoming a tool for everyone, being human is what sets you apart.
Developing interpersonal skills not only makes you valuable but also strengthens your intelligence, keeping your brain active, flexible, and ready to take on challenges AI could never handle.
Conclusion
AI is a powerful tool, but it’s not a replacement for your mind.
We need to take control of our learning and decision-making.
We must strive to create a balance where AI complements our intelligence instead of replacing it.
We need to take a break from jumping on the next hype train. Take a breather.
Let’s keep our minds sharp, embrace new technologies responsibly, and use AI to improve - not diminish - our potential.
P.S.: To be clear, I am not saying you shouldn’t use AI. Of course, I used AI to generate ideas for this article, ask questions, and check grammar. But these are mainly the big ideas I wanted to express to the world—thoughts that live in my head during those bathroom moments and notions I’d love to dispel about our ability for creative expression and intelligence. I just want us to use AI without becoming lazy.
If you love this piece, you’d enjoy connecting with me in the LockedIN Mindset community. Fill out this form to share your pain points and express your interest.