One signal

Academic Setareh Seyedghorban describes AI chatbots as both a leveller and a threat to slow, independent thinking in an essay for The Guardian. She writes that tools including ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are already absorbing questions, problems and drafts that people once took to friends and colleagues.

Why it matters

Her account is personal rather than a new study, but it captures a practical tension for anyone using AI at work or university: the tools can widen access to help while quietly encouraging people to outsource judgement. Seyedghorban’s answer is not to abandon them, but to keep thinking, judging and developing ideas that remain stubbornly one’s own. That sounds less like a ban on chatbots than a reminder to keep a human-sized gap between assistance and authorship. In an age of instant answers, slow thinking has become a slightly rebellious hobby.

Discuss: When AI makes work easier and more accessible, where should people draw the line between useful assistance and surrendering their own judgement?

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