At TEDAI Vienna, Advait Sarkar recently delivered a wake-up call in his talk “How to Stop AI from Killing Your Critical Thinking.” His message was simple. If we let AI think for us, we stop thinking for ourselves.

He’s right. And that warning hits right at the center of my work in HI × AI. Human Insights first. Artificial Intelligence second. In that order. Always.

This idea shows up in my article Why Human Insights Matter More Than Artificial Intelligence. I wrote that because I kept seeing the same thing in organizations. People were racing to use AI without stopping to understand what problem they were trying to solve. They were expecting AI to deliver meaning instead of doing the thinking that meaning requires.

Sarkar’s talk, Wheatley’s work on human systems, Senge’s thinking on learning organizations, and Argyris’s lessons on double loop learning all point to the same conclusion. Technology can help, but it cannot lead. People have to do the thinking first.

Here is what that means for anyone using AI today.

AI can help you think or it can take thinking away. The difference is how you use it.

Sarkar warns that when people hand their thinking over to AI, their own abilities start to fade. The less they think, the less they can think. It’s the cognitive equivalent of skipping leg day for a year. You don’t notice it at first. Then one day, you realize you cannot carry your own weight.

HI × AI fixes this. Human Insights define the problem, the purpose, and the path. AI amplifies whatever direction you set.

This is the difference between using AI as a creative partner and using it as a shortcut. One strengthens you. The other weakens you.

HI × AI keeps the human skills that matter most from eroding.

Every AMPLIFIED! workshop begins with human work. Thinking. Listening. Asking better questions. Understanding who is affected and why.

AI enters the process only after humans have done the thinking.

This protects the skills you cannot outsource:

• empathy
• critical thinking
• problem framing
• pattern recognition
• creative exploration
• judgment

Wheatley wrote that human systems fall apart when people stop paying attention. Senge showed that learning organizations collapse when people stop learning. Argyris explained that improvement requires questioning assumptions instead of accepting quick answers.

All three ideas line up perfectly with Sarkar’s warning. And they all reinforce the same point. AI becomes dangerous only when we stop participating in our own intelligence.

The real risk is not powerful AI. The real risk is passive humans.

AI doesn’t kill critical thinking. Disengagement does. AI doesn’t weaken intelligence. Over-reliance does. AI doesn’t flatten curiosity. Convenience does.

Sarkar’s talk is a reminder that thinking is a skill that must be practiced. Wheatley teaches that systems fail when awareness fades. Senge argues that people lose their ability to see the bigger picture when they stop learning. Argyris warns that organizations get stuck when they stop questioning their own assumptions.

HI × AI prevents all of this by positioning humans in the driver’s seat.

Teams that use HI × AI outperform teams that skip it.

When organizations start with Human Insights and use AI to amplify, they get:

• smarter conversations
• better questions
• faster insights
• more creative ideas
• more confident decisions
• solutions that actually solve something

When they skip the HI step, they get:

• generic answers
• shallow thinking
• overdependence on tools
• low confidence in decisions
• solutions that do not stick

The difference is not the tool. The difference is the thinking that comes before the tool.

Apply HI × AI today.

Sarkar’s TEDAI talk is a warning. HI × AI is a solution. If you want AI to elevate your work instead of eroding your thinking, start with Human Insights. Bring AI in to amplify. Protect the part of intelligence that only humans can supply.

The key is to apply HI × AI today. – kp

---

References

• Argyris, C. (1977). Double Loop Learning in Organizations. Harvard Business Review.
• Popović, K. (2024). Why Human Insights Matter More than Artificial Intelligence.LinkedIn Articles.
• Sarkar, A. (2025). How to Stop AI from Killing Your Critical Thinking[TED talk]. TEDAI Vienna.
• Senge, P. (1990). The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization.Doubleday.
• Wheatley, M. J. (2006). Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World. Berrett Koehler.