Or Are We Becoming The Output?

We like to think we’re in charge. After all, we’re the ones giving instructions, coming up with the clever prompts, telling our AI what to do.

In a recent study from the MIT Media Lab that is based on EEG brain scans taken during multiple essay writing sessions, students who leaned on ChatGPT showed markedly reduced brain activity, poorer creativity, diminished memory of their own ideas, and increasingly formulaic writing compared to peers who used search tools or wrote unaided. *

So I ask, “Are we really shaping our AI, or is it shaping us?”

Convenience vs Curiosity

Here’s the paradox with AI: the better it gets at mirroring us, the more tempting it becomes to outsource not just our tasks, but our thinking. With friction gone, it’s so easy to accept the first answer, adopt the suggested phrasing, and move on.

But what’s the hidden cost of this convenience? When “good enough” becomes our standard, are we quietly trading curiosity for comfort and losing the subtle friction that makes us sharper?

My take? I’m not anti-outsourcing. Far from it. There’s enormous value in offloading the routine, the repetitive, even the shallow thinking. Let the machine pick lunch or summarise a report! Why not?

The key is knowing what not to give away.

How I Decide What to Automate, Co-Create, or Keep

This is how I actually use AI to move fast without losing the plot and myself.

1. Automate What’s Repetitive or Draining

If I’ve done it more than twice and it doesn’t require judgment, I automate it. That includes:

Scraping competitors
Cleaning data
Pulling market signals
Drafting product descriptions
Sorting email replies
Auto-filling docs or templates

I use LaunchLemonade agents for most of this. I don't want to touch it again unless something breaks.

2. Co-Create When I Need Momentum or Perspective

When I feel blocked or overthinking, I co-create. That means:

Brainstorming headlines
Drafting first versions of strategy decks
Sparring on messaging
Outlining a newsletter or podcast flow
Reframing a customer insight I’m stuck on

AI here isn’t the lead. It is the boost.

3. Keep What Feels Like Me

Anything that defines the business, touches the brand voice, or requires emotional nuance? I keep. That means:

Writing the hard paragraphs
Naming things
Making the final call on product strategy
Building trust with investors, users, or partners
Sitting with hard questions no one else is asking

AI can support with the thinking. But I never fully hand this over. If I do, I can feel the work hollow out.

Questions I ask myself to check in:

Will AI just make this faster or will it make it flatter?
Am I looking for insight, or just relief from decision fatigue?
If this turns out great, will I still feel like I did it?

I Don’t Have Time to Be Bored. But I Miss It.

I used to be bored a lot. Long afternoons growing up. Long-haul flights. Rainy commutes without a phone in sight.

Now? I move fast. I test, push, launch, revise. When I need clarity, I don’t wait. I build. I run it through a few models. I check what the agent says. I move.

But lately, I’ve been thinking about the cost of never being bored.

Some of my clearest ideas still come when I ride the subway without earphones. When I walk without my phone. When I’m in the gym or standing under a hot shower and something clicks. When my brain is allowed to wander.

I don’t want to lose that. I still need places to drift, to protect some of the pause, because I still believe something valuable lives there.

When’s the last time you let yourself sit with a half-formed thought without trying to fix it? Or finished a paragraph without checking what ChatGPT might say first?

I’m not saying ditch your tools. I’m saying to stay aware of what they’re changing. Because they are.

And here’s the deeper question I keep coming back to: If we never get lost, can we still find anything new?

All the zest, 🍋
Cien

You Are What You Prompt