How to stop AI from killing your critical thinking | Advait Sarkar

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 15 November 2025

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Chatbots might help you get work done faster — but at what cost? When we outsource our reasoning to artificial intelligence, we reduce ourselves to "middle managers for our own thoughts," says AI and design researcher Advait Sarkar. He examines the cognitive trade-offs of using AI at work and introduces a different kind of tool: one that encourages critical thinking, nudges reflection and actually helps you get smarter.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity
0:11.4	every day.
0:12.4	I'm your host, Elise Hugh.
0:14.1	What happens when we start to let AI think for us?
0:17.8	It's a big question right now.
0:19.7	And is it actually making us smarter and more efficient?
0:22.8	Or is it hindering our ability to think critically? In this talk, Advat Sarkar, a researcher at
0:29.5	Microsoft, examines the cognitive tradeoffs of AI at work and sketches a different kind of tool,
0:35.9	one that promotes critical thinking and nudges reflection
0:39.3	to help you get smarter and not just faster.
0:48.1	I'm here today to talk about thinking for yourself. And I must admit, I did use AI to help me think about it.
0:57.0	The irony is not lost on me.
0:59.6	But the way I did so is not by using AI as an assistant to help me prepare this talk
1:04.7	faster.
1:06.0	Rather, I use AI as a tool for thought.
1:09.6	And by the end of this talk, I will have explained what I mean by that, why it's important,
1:14.6	and given you a glimpse of how it might work.
1:17.6	But first, I need to set the scene.
1:20.6	Let's look at a day in the life of a 21st century knowledge worker.
1:24.6	I arrive at my office and look at my inbox full of emails.
1:31.8	Let's summarize it.
1:33.7	Okay, I'm struggling to figure out how to respond here.
	...

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