I’ve been using ChatGPT to handle some of the more repetitive parts of my job, like drafting emails and doing basic research. It’s been a huge time-saver and has made those tasks a lot less draining.
However, my friend is convinced I’m making a big mistake. They argue that I’m outsourcing my brainpower and might end up losing valuable skills if I keep relying on AI. They even mentioned “stagnating neurons,” which sounds quite dramatic.
I understand their concern, but I also see ChatGPT as a tool to free up my mental energy for more creative and strategic work.
Has anyone else faced similar concerns? Do you think there’s a risk of losing skills by automating tasks with AI? If so, how do you find the right balance?
It’s true that if you don’t practice certain skills, you can lose the ability to perform them over time. Whether complex or simple, the brain tends to discard what it doesn’t use.
That said, company emails are often 90% boilerplate. If you’ve mastered using GPT for these repetitive tasks, it’s likely benefiting your brain in some ways.
However, be cautious with using AI for research. Always verify sources and double-check information. Also, try writing an email once a week to keep your skills sharp in corporate communication.
I’m personally not a big fan of using GPT for every little task, but that’s just my preference. For some perspective, using written words to remember things could be seen as making your brain less sharp because you don’t need to remember as much. However, it also allows you to remember much more overall. So, putting my personal preferences aside, GPT tools can act as force multipliers, helping you save mental effort on mundane tasks and focus on more important work—assuming you’re actually using that freed-up mental space effectively.
Ultimately, advancements in technology mean we get more free time by automating simple tasks. This could potentially lead to “mush brain” if you do nothing with that extra time, but most people use it to focus on more interesting and challenging work.
So no, it doesn’t necessarily make you less sharp. It just provides more freedom. It might make lazy people lazier and smart people even smarter.
Your friend might have a point, but you should consider what’s more important to you: the skill of writing corporate emails on your own or your own happiness.
In my opinion, as long as you maintain your ability to research and think critically, you should be okay. Ultimately, it comes down to the kind of mental environment you want to cultivate for yourself.
