How to think well with AI: signals, quietness, and the argument engine

Welcome to Exponential View, the show where I explore how exponential technologies such as AI are reshaping our future. I've been studying AI and exponential technologies at the frontier for over ten years.

Each week, I share some of my analysis or speak with an expert guest to make light of a particular topic.

To keep up with the Exponential transition, subscribe to this channel or to my newsletter: exponentialview.co

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AI has become so embedded in how I work that I can no longer cleanly separate it from my thinking. That raises a question I find genuinely unsettling: is intensive AI use making me a sharper thinker, or quietly doing the opposite? In this episode I pull back the curtain on my full research and writing process — the custom tools, the friction points, and the places where I'm still not sure I've got it right. For Ezra Klein, having AI summarize material is a disaster for original thought. But my AI systems are designed to protect the cognitive work that has to stay human, while they handle everything else. Knowing where to draw that line turns out to be the hardest and most important question.

I covered:

00:00 - Is AI worsening our thinking?

02:35 - Ezra Klein on AI and the death of original thought

04:02 - Cognitive offloading vs cognitive surrender

09:20 - Signal detection at scale

11:06 - Why I use several AI personas to scan for different insights

13:37 - AI tells me what NOT to think about

16:25 - The value of quietness

19:07 - Small notebooks, small ideas

20:01 - Writing reveals what you don't yet know

23:24 - The golden thread

25:20 - Speaking drafts aloud

28:05 - How I stress-test my arguments before publishing

29:35 - Using AI to stress-test my own house views

31:44 - Stylometer: my AI style and grammar tool

33:10 - Did AI make the thinking better?

For more on this week’s topics, subscribe to my newsletter exponentialview.co

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Where to find me:

Exponential View newsletter:exponentialview.co

Website:azeemazhar.com

LinkedIn:linkedin.com/in/azhar

Twitter/X:x.com/azeem

Production by EPIIPLUS1

Production and research: Baba Films, Chantal Smith, Marija Gavrilov.

About Exponential View:
Welcome to Exponential View, where Azeem Azhar examines how exponential technologies such as AI are reshaping the future. Each week, Azeem shares his analysis or speaks with an expert guest to shed light on frontier shifts across technology, business and society.

To keep up with the Exponential transition, subscribe to this channel or the newsletter: exponentialview.co/
To keep up with our AI economy research, subscribe to investmentbrief.ai

Where to find me:
Exponential View newsletter: exponentialview.co
Website: azeemazhar.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/azeem
Twitter/X: x.com/azeem

Production by EPIIPLUS1.
Production and research: Baba Films, Marija Gavrilov.

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