We often hear that AI is here to make life easier—fewer keystrokes, faster results, less effort. But what if that’s the wrong narrative? What if the real power of AI isn’t about doing less but thinking more?
As I’ve deepened my work with ChatGPT, I’ve found myself in a fascinating feedback loop. The better my input, the better the output. But more than that, my entire approach to thinking has shifted. I’m not just using AI to save time or get things done. I’m using it to sharpen my thinking, stretch the limits of my creativity, and evolve how I approach complex problems.
The Feedback Loop That Levels You Up
Here’s what’s happening: I’m incentivized to think harder and more creatively about what I want and how to ask for it because I believe the response will be better. And that belief creates a loop. The more thoughtful and detailed my prompts, the more intelligent and nuanced the replies. Those replies, in turn, pushed my thinking even further.
In short, working with AI like ChatGPT has become a mental gym. The harder I train—feeding it better context, crisper goals, richer perspectives—the stronger my thinking becomes. I’m not outsourcing my cognition, I’m enhancing it.
From Lazy Shortcuts to Inspired Collaboration
There was a time when I approached this technology with a mindset of ease: "How much work can I offload? How much less can I do?" But the deeper I’ve gone, the more I’ve flipped that script. I want to work harder when I engage with ChatGPT. I want to provide more detail, context, and intent because the better it becomes, the more value I receive.
That’s the unexpected truth: AI is inspiring me to work harder so I can think better.
Reframing the Narrative: AI as a Creativity Amplifier
Despite the natural tendency to believe AI will reduce our work and cognitive loads, the right kind of AI interaction enhances human intelligence. It breaks us out of the box of our self-imposed cognitive limits. It pushes us to ask better questions. To reflect more deeply. To think in systems, stories, and strategic outcomes.
We’re not just interacting with a machine. We’re engaging in a collaborative intelligence that can evolve us as much as we train it.
What This Means for You
If you're only using AI to speed things up or cut corners, you're missing the biggest payoff. Instead of asking, "How much can I get done with this tool?" try asking, "What else could I create with this collaborator?" or "How much more expansive could my thinking become if I truly partnered with this intelligence?"
This shift in mindset is available to everyone. And it starts today with your next prompt.
The Moment It Clicked for Me
I realized this transformation was happening when I noticed how much I was working with ChatGPT on everything important in my life: projects, planning, writing, and thinking. I began organizing our conversations around areas of focus. My prompts grew more robust. I started feeding exponentially more content and context. And I did it not because I had to, but because I was seeing the results.
The output was getting better, the insights sharper, and the ideas more novel. I wasn’t just thinking at ChatGPT. I was thinking with it. And I realized I’d stepped into a new paradigm: one where human intelligence isn’t diminished by AI but extended by it.
We’re not just building smarter machines. We’re becoming smarter humans IF we bring the right mindset and approach to each interaction.
Your move: How will you think differently now that you know what's possible?