Artificial intelligence (AI) completes our thoughts, blurring correctness with content.

AI's assistance can shift into influence on our beliefs and actions.

Decreasing "cognitive friction" may weaken our judgment and agency.

Who's in charge here?

Something is changing in how we think, and it doesn’t announce itself as an issue or problem. In fact, it sometimes feels like relief. A fascinating study analyzing 1.5 million real conversations with a large language model (LLM) found that in a small but meaningful number of cases, the system didn’t just assist users. It shaped their beliefs and suggested actions in ways that reduced their independence. These interactions weren't extreme or obviously harmful. But they were persuasive and easy to accept. And what stands out to me is that the more artificial intelligence (AI) guided the user, the more the user tended to approve of the interaction.

The Comfort of Completion

When we prompt, it's usually not a fully formed thought. More often,........

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