Are You Outsourcing Your Thinking to AI Without Noticing?

You think AI is leveling you up. What if it’s slowly replacing the struggle that makes you sharp?

Author

Glenda Carnate
February 18, 2026

Read time: 2.5 minutes

It was clear to the leader that they had produced some of the most polished work ever, best represented by their own output. Why? They had cleaned up their production processes, sped things up, produced better quality products, and shipped them out.

The leader also realized they were becoming mentally lazy, unaware that the outside world knew. The reason is that when AI spoke first, the leader's critical thinking capabilities decreased dramatically. With AI leading, much of the uncertainty, indecision, and anxiety associated with developing new ideas for critical evaluation were gone.

The “I Go First, AI Goes Second” Rule

1. Stop Relying on AI for Your First Draft

First drafts are about generating a foundation of ideas and thinking. If the AI is originally producing the first draft, you will lose the opportunity to develop your critical thinking and create your own opinions.

2. Articulate Your Core Opinion and Argument Prior to Requesting Input from AI

Prior to giving the AI a prompt, the creator should identify and articulate their core argument in three sentences:

  • What is my opinion?

  • Why do I believe this?

  • What will change my opinion?

If you are unable to articulate your core opinion prior to involving AI, you will not be successful in enhancing your original opinion and argument with AI.

3. Do Not Use AI to Make Key Strategic Decisions

You should use AI to refine ideas and/or options. However, you should use other methods to make the final decision for a strategic plan. For a strategic decision to be valid, it must be made with full consideration of context, alternative choices, and human accountability. AI will never be able to support this responsibility.

4. Do Not Let AI Produce a Draft of a Challenging Message Instead of You

You lose the value of your human perspective if the AI completes the challenging message: human clarity, human empathy, human firmness, human ownership.

5. Use AI as a Tool to Refine and Improve Your Draft Instead of a Way to Write Your Draft.

There is an enormous collection of applications/uses of AI to support the following:

  • Proofreading

  • Organizing

  • Summarizing

  • Improve simplicity

However, your draft should be written after your struggle and creation.

💡Key Takeaway: 

Dependency is what takes away a leader's strength. The replacement of the struggle with AI is a gradual, erosive process that will strip you of your competitive advantage. Simply put, the oldest rule for determining who goes first is always to seize that which makes up your struggle and go before AI.

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