Swap "AI" for "a smart colleague": is cognitive offloading just leadership?
beglen · x · 2026-11-07
The author proposes a language-swap test: replace "AI" in common worries with "a smart person" — a colleague, consultant, or clever friend — and many concerns turn into old problems we already have rules for.
- We wouldn't call a CEO hiring a consultant or delegating thinking "cognitive offloading" — we'd call it leadership. Why does the label change when the help comes from AI?
- The same norms apply: you wouldn't sign a colleague's work you hadn't checked and couldn't defend, so check, edit, and own AI output the same way.
- Just as we'd criticize an exec for approving a consultant's recommendation she can't explain, the identical rule works for AI.
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