Thinkslop and all this is true because it is AI(substack.com) |
Thinkslop and all this is true because it is AI(substack.com) |
In an article from the Harvard Business Review publication (hbr.org/2026/06/how-peo…), I found out that “Astrology and Tarot Readings” is among the Top 10 use case categories of 2026 according to their study. Like any other nerd, I use it for coding tasks, processing logs, polishing writing maybe, but it would never occur to me that I could do astrology or anything of the like. Not that I'm into it, or have any kind of prejudice against it, it is simply not something I would immediately have thought of for AI. The top use case is therapy and companionship, which is more predictable given that there is a severe shortage of proper medical treatment in our society and solitude is a known issue especially at the later ages, although I'm skeptical about finding a good fraction of our elderly using AI for companionship now. Note that I'm not saying they shouldn't, only that there is a generational gap in the use of technology.
I learned a new term from the article, a concept that I observed but didn't have a single word for. "Thinkslop" is the "lazy, sloppy thinking that can be engendered by excessive use of AI". The study also refers to other relevant and often observed issues, like people stopping writing because AI does it, which impacts their reasoning. In fact, reasoning over some topic might deviate from its original intent as AI is doing the writing for you and even choosing the vocabulary. Or, the high-throughput generation of content that just goes to waste as no one actually consumes it. Of course, generating the content still consumes power, so the environment takes a hit.
But one that is a highlight for me is the false sense of intellectual rigor, which strangely reminds me of a Lego Movie quote that makes my kids and me laugh every time. When Vitruvius is talking about the prophecy, he closes it with "All this is true, because it rhymes", which is clearly absurd. The rhyme perhaps gives a false sense of correctness and rigor, which supposedly inspires credibility. How many times have you seen an AI report that looks fantastic but when you read it, it is mostly empty, a lot of words and maybe graphics saying very little and with slightly awkward vocabulary? It is not true only because it is AI.
Like many out there, I am making progress on what I consider a proper use of AI technology; it needs to be useful, an enabler even, but definitely constructive. It cannot work like a drug by giving you happiness out of a false sense of productivity. I am very sure that I will keep being surprised by use cases, and that's part of the fun.