Post-it notes and interns: the 2 sides of AI

Using AI is a lot like hiring an enthusiastic intern. They’re quick and helpful but also alarmingly confident in their own ability. And the thing about over-eager interns is that if you let them, they start making decisions you should be making yourself.

That’s exactly the challenge facing today’s writers. AI gives you volume, fast. But every time you let it choose how you write a paragraph, you’re quietly offloading some of your cognitive load.

Now, cognitive offloading (when you delegate a cognitive task to an external support) isn’t always bad. Every time you scribble a task on a Post-it note, you offload it, so your brain doesn’t have to remember it. You free up your mind to think about other things.

Relying too much on AI, on the other hand, flips that dynamic. It does so much of the heavy lifting that you’re tempted not to think.

So what happens when you let AI carry the load? Research shows that increased AI use correlates with weaker critical-thinking scores, which is a problem. Critical-thinking skills, like analysing and evaluating information, lead to better problem solving and more informed decision-making. These skills are non-negotiables in any workplace.

Don’t get the wrong idea. The strongest writers aren’t those who refuse to use AI. They’re the ones who refuse to offload the thinking that matters. They’re strategic about when they use AI, precise about what they ask it and vigilant about scrutinising its output.

The key is balance.

Using AI-powered tools to sift through data and find patterns frees up your brain for the critical-thinking skills of drawing conclusions and forming recommendations. But relying on AI too much can reduce your capacity for deep analysis and leave you forgetting how to think.

The Post-it note keeps you sharp. The intern keeps trying to take over. But our plain language writing tools help you stay in charge. They come with critical thinking built in and slot perfectly into your workflow, with or without AI.

Curious about our ISO-aligned tools? Contact us today.