Thinking in Three Movements: My Reflection on Reclaiming the Mind in the AI Age

After reading an article by The School of Life on how AI is influencing human thought, I came to a realization I couldn't ignore.

So I did what I usually do - I created a visual.

Not to explain the idea, but to understand it.

"Thinking in Three Movements" is my interpretation of something I’ve been experiencing: AI makes it easier to get answers but harder to know if I’ve truly thought.

On the visual's left side, I captured what I now see as a pattern in my behavior - the cognitive trap. The impulse to move quickly. To find answers as fast as possible. To see AI as the shortest route from question to clarity.

But when I really took a step back, I realized something unsettling:

Speed was replacing depth.

I wasn’t just using AI to speed up thinking - I was using it to bypass it. Over time, this creates something subtle but dangerous: a loss of ownership. The answers may be correct, but they don’t feel like mine. That’s what I called “meaning drift.”

This realization made me reconsider how I engage - not just with AI, but with my own mind.

The middle of the visual is where that shift occurs. The three movements aren’t complex, but they require intention.

First: What do I already think? This is where I needed to slow down. Capture my initial thoughts - before influence, before refinement. It’s imperfect, but it’s honest. And importantly, it’s mine.

Second: What might I be missing? Now AI plays a role - but not as the answer. As a challenger. A way to reveal gaps, introduce new perspectives, and expand my thinking. When

I use it this way, it doesn’t replace my perspective - it challenges it.

Third: What do I think now? This is the part that transformed everything for me. Returning. Reflecting. Integrating. Reaching a conclusion that’s stronger because of AI - but still owned by me.

That last part matters more than I expected.

On the right side of the visual, I framed what I believe is the true goal: selective depth.

AI should extend how far I can think - not eliminate the need to think altogether.

But that requires something we’re not used to anymore: sitting in the discomfort of not knowing.

Because that’s where real thinking happens.

The tension, the ambiguity, the pause before the answer - that’s the work. AI will , if I’m not careful, remove that too quickly.

This visual wasn’t just an exercise. It was a correction.

A reminder that the question isn’t whether I use AI - because I will.

The question is whether I stay engaged in the process.

Do I think first, then use AI? Or do I let AI think for me?

I don’t have a perfect answer yet.

But I know this - if I want to lead, build, and create at a high level, I can’t afford to lose the ability to form my own thoughts.

So now, I pause a little longer.

I write before I ask. I reflect before I conclude.

Not because it’s efficient...

But because it’s necessary.