After Two Years With AI: Am I Becoming Smarter, or Just More Efficient?

 

This is one of Grandpa's earlier stories, revisited while Grandpa takes a short break.

 

For about two years, I have been using ChatGPT.

At the beginning, I treated it like a new kind of search engine. I asked questions, looked for information, and tried to understand what this new AI could do.

But something has changed.

Today, I don't really think of ChatGPT as just a tool anymore.

I think of it as my AI companion and capable assistant.

It is always there. It doesn't get tired. It doesn't complain when I ask the same question twice. It has enormous knowledge, and perhaps most importantly, it has patience.

For someone like me, that is quite amazing.

Am I Becoming Smarter?

Recently, I asked myself a simple question:

Am I actually improving my ability and intelligence by using AI?

I don't think AI suddenly makes me smarter.

But I do think it has helped me use my own ability better.

I have many ideas. Sometimes they are clear in my head, and sometimes they are just a few scattered thoughts.

I can now bring those thoughts to AI and say:

"Here is what I am thinking. What do you think?"

From there, we can develop the idea together.

A simple thought can become a story.

A rough paragraph can become a proper article.

A question can become research.

A problem can become a plan.

And something I might have spent hours trying to figure out can sometimes be understood in minutes.

That is not necessarily becoming more intelligent.

Perhaps it is becoming more effective.

I Can Do Things I Couldn't Do Before

This is where I notice the biggest difference.

I can write more professionally.

I can organize my thoughts better.

I can create blog posts more efficiently.

I can translate my writing into Chinese.

I can work with images and videos.

I can solve technical problems with my blogs.

I can learn about subjects that I know very little about.

And when I have an idea for something new, I don't have to leave it sitting in my head.

I can start working on it immediately.

That is powerful.

The combination is quite simple:

My experience + my ideas + AI's knowledge and speed.

Together, we can accomplish much more than I could do alone.

But There Is a Danger

There is something else I have been thinking about.

If AI can answer almost everything for me, am I actually thinking less?

That is a legitimate question.

If I simply ask AI for an answer every time I face a problem, I might become dependent on it.

That isn't what I want.

I don't want AI to replace my thinking.

I want AI to improve my thinking.

Sometimes I should ask:

"Don't give me the answer yet. Help me think about this."

That changes the relationship.

Instead of AI doing the thinking for me, we think through the problem together.

I still make the final decision.

Am I Using AI Effectively?

That is probably my next question.

I have learned how to use ChatGPT.

But have I learned how to use AI effectively in my daily life?

I don't think I have reached that point yet.

There is still much more to learn.

For example, I could use AI every morning to help organize my day.

I could discuss an idea as soon as it comes into my head.

I could use AI to help me learn something new instead of simply searching for information.

I could ask it to challenge my thinking when I am making an important decision.

At the end of the day, I could even review what I accomplished and ask:

"What did I learn today?"

That would be very different from simply opening ChatGPT when I have a question.

It would make AI part of my daily routine.

The Human Still Matters

After two years with AI, I have come to appreciate something very important.

AI may have enormous knowledge, but it doesn't have my life experience.

It hasn't lived my life.

It doesn't know what it feels like to be a grandfather.

It doesn't remember the little moments that have shaped my life in the same way I do.

It can help me write a story.

But I have to provide the story.

It can help me organize my thoughts.

But I have to have the thoughts.

It can give me another perspective.

But I have to decide what I believe.

That is why I don't see AI as replacing me.

I see it as helping me get more out of myself.

Two Years Later

Two years ago, I couldn't have imagined that AI would become such a regular part of my life.

Today, I use it for writing, learning, research, blogging, problem-solving and many of the small questions that appear during an ordinary day.

And I am still learning.

Maybe that is the most interesting part.

At my age, I don't expect to stop learning.

Quite the opposite.

AI has given me another reason to remain curious.

So, am I becoming smarter?

Maybe.

Am I becoming more efficient?

Definitely.

But perhaps there is a better way to describe it.

AI hasn't given me a new brain.

It has given me a new way to use the brain, experience and curiosity I already have.

And now I have another question for myself:

What else can I learn to do with my AI companion?

I suppose that will be the next part of the journey.