Artificial Intelligence and You

Professor Michael Gerlich is back on the show, calling from Zurich, Switzerland. His new book, The Convenience Trap: What Happens When AI Becomes the Mind Behind Our Lives is about the threats to what I call our "cognitive autonomy" when we use AI the wrong way. And it turns out that the ways we tend to use it are mostly the wrong way, which was what Michael was talking about last October, because he is the author of a widely-cited study showing that students’ use of AI for cognitive offloading impaired their critical thinking. But his new research shows that following what he calls the structured prompting protocol, of using your brain first, AI second, results in improved learning.

Michael is the Head of Center for Strategic Corporate Foresight and Sustainability at SBS Swiss Business School. His research and publications largely focus on the societal impact of Artificial Intelligence. He’s also taught at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Cambridge, and other institutions. He’s also been an adviser to the President and the Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, the Uzbekistan Cabinet, and ministers of economic affairs in Azerbaijan.

We start with a - frankly shocking - story that shows how dependent students have become on AI, then talk about how to avoid cognitive offloading, how to use AI more effectively, the anchoring effect of AI use, using a GPS as an analogy, and the risks of unexamined AI use.

All this plus our usual look at today's AI headlines!

Transcript and URLs referenced at HumanCusp Blog.