We're Using AI Backwards—Here's How to Max Your Brain on AI (I call it Cognitive Choreography)

Everyone's using AI for transcription and summarization. But what if the real revolution isn't in compressing our thoughts, but in expanding them? What if we're using AI backwards? What if using AI differently is actually good for our brains?

This piece has been cooking for awhile. I’ve been trying to find a way to express something I think is really vital—how can we use AI more as a thinking partner, and less as a simple task-gopher. Like I want my brain to work better with AI, not atrophy (thank you very much).

So this is a larger piece. It’s intentionally somewhat reflective. It challenges you to spend time with a really thoughtful insight on how you use AI. And it has multiple learning modes. You can dig in on the video, or if your thing is reading you can dive in on a larger piece that invites you to really marinate in the idea of using AI as a cognitive expander.

Why all the words? Nate get to the point! Because that is the point. Because sometimes you need to marinate in an idea for awhile to really get it across. There are definitely effective prompt frameworks (I write about them a ton), but because our brains our unique this particular piece aims to give you a map of AI-human partnership you can use as a guidebook to develop a way of working with AI that suits your brain. Yes, we’re gonna be that bold!

My whole goal with this Substack is to equip you with the tools to thrive in the AI age, and I’ve been thinking more and more about how to name this weird new collaboration energy (or vibe) that’s emerging, where we are working with AI not like our human colleagues, but also kinda like our human colleagues. I want to understand what about that dynamic helps us think better when it’s done well, so we can repeat it.

And I think I finally have something brain-expanding, something worth sharing. So here goes! You’ll get research on neuroscience and thinking in here, but a ton more on how I actually am developing my own cognitive partnership with AI, what it looks like for me, a little teaser on a book I’m developing, and a framework to start developing your own AI partnership. Would love to hear what you think of this one!