Will AI make us lazy?
It's the most honest worry people have. And the answer is: it depends which muscle you stop using.
The lesson
Calculators didn't make us worse at math thinking. They made us faster at it. GPS, though, really did erode our sense of direction, because we stopped practicing entirely. Both futures are on the table with AI Hand it the busywork and keep the thinking: you get the calculator story. Hand it the thinking too: you get the GPS story. Same tool. Different you.
Try it — 60 seconds
Watch my next few requests and tell me honestly: which parts of my thinking am I delegating to you — and which one should I take back?
Copy it into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini — whichever you already use. Fill in the brackets with your real life.
Watch out
Lazy isn't using the tool. Lazy is not noticing what you stopped practicing. Audit yourself once in a while.