AI didn't democratize intelligence. It democratized output

“AI is for lazy people”
“AI is for smart people”
“Programmers use AI best”
“Neurodivergent people use AI best”
“You shouldn't get mad that people write with AI”
“It makes me mad that people write with AI”
“Is that what you think, or what Claude thinks?”

I didn't say any of these. People said them to me, or I read them, this week.

And the more opinions I hear about AI, the more convinced I am of one thing:

AI doesn't replace thinking. It exposes it.

Because using AI doesn't automatically make you more creative, deeper, more strategic, or smarter.

It just makes you faster.

And that can be wonderful... or just a better-written disaster.

After using LLMs since ChatGPT blew up at the end of 2022, I firmly believe the real difference isn't whether you use AI or not.
It's how you think before, during, and after you use it.

Because a person with judgment can use AI to:
Explore better, think better, compare better, create better...

But a person without judgment is just going to produce more...
of the same.

And that's the problem.

AI didn't democratize intelligence. It democratized output.

Now anyone can post, comment, summarize, sound convincing, and even seem brilliant.

But still having: Judgment, a point of view,
sensitivity, the ability to read context, your own thinking... that's still rare.

And it'll probably be the real human differentiator in the years ahead.

Not “not using AI.”
Not “using a ton of AI” either.

But not to stop thinking while you use it.

That's where the difference is.

I'm a huge fan of technology and Artificial Intelligence, and I'll keep using it and learning more and more...
buuut I'm an even bigger fan of human intelligence. And I'm pretty clear on where the problem is:
it's not AI... it's when we stop thinking and call it efficiency.
AI amplifies intelligence. It also amplifies mediocrity.