Overusing AI

It’s strange to imagine my workflow now without Perplexity, Cursor, and Gemini. I wouldn't call myself an early adopter, but these tools have seamlessly integrated into my life's operating system, giving me a distinct advantage in specific areas.

The promise of a 10x boost in productivity and intelligence is miraculous, and I don't deny its potential. However, when everyone receives the same amplification, their weaknesses are often magnified by the same multiplier.

I use AI for a wide range of tasks, from answering simple questions to managing large, complex development projects. Nearly every new model release brings another "aha" moment. Yet, I've noticed a shift in my own behavior. I've started leaving tasks unsupervised, shortening my instructions, and assuming AI can solve any problem I throw at it. Overconfidence led me to tackle more things in parallel, juggling multiple sessions at once with the certainty that I could get two or three times the work done.

This wasn't the case. My attention and focus became significantly fragmented; my brain simply isn't designed for that kind of workload. The consequence? I constantly have too many things on the table, and most of them don't get the attention they deserve. A task that might have taken me 20 minutes to complete on my own now involves 10 minutes waiting for an AI response and another 50 minutes of context-switching, which comes at a high cognitive price.

I had fallen into my own velocity trap. I thought I was operating at 10x speed, far ahead of others, but in reality, I was just keeping pace. When the entire highway is moving at 100 mph, driving at 100 mph doesn't mean you're getting ahead; it just means you're keeping up. As I discovered, this amplified speed also magnified my own laziness and the thinking errors my life was already operating on.

The real differentiator isn't just about using AI, but about understanding our own focus and unique capabilities. We all have a powerful brain, and we must use it wisely to control the quality of our decisions and to get things done with confidence and a compounding effect. The key is to focus on one thing at a time.

This realization doesn't make me pessimistic about adopting new technologies. On the contrary, it has given me more insight into how I can better integrate innovation for myself and others. Being an early adopter should be about knowing how to use new tools correctly and wisely, not just about using them once or twice.