Human civilisation has witnessed one trend more frequently than any other — even more consistently than data available on Google Trends or Twitter — and that is the resistance to, and expression of fear toward, change and new developments.

When television emerged, chaos followed, with claims that it could become the greatest disaster ever — a devilish distraction that human civilisation neither deserved nor was ready for. The same happened with mobile phones, then with high-speed internet, then with shorts and reels, and now with AI tech and apps.

Schools weren’t spared either, I just recalled. They were the place where creativity was killed — and everywhere else, it bloomed, right? Here’s the thing: innovation and improvisation are how we’ve come this far in the first place. To blame it all on progress — to say that tech is taking us backwards — is like claiming that reaching the summit made us realize life was better at the foothills.

Well, I don’t shy away from accepting that there are pros and cons to everything, and for every step we take forward, there’s always a chance of failing, falling, or even hurting other fronts where progress had already been made.

Does that mean we should doubt and resist every change? The act of doubting often gets consumed by a large part of civilisation that’s overly gullible — absorbing it as factual truth. They get pulled from one extreme to another, day after day, never finding stability or progressing alongside the rest of civilisation. Their confusion never really ends, and in this case, “to each his own” doesn’t apply.

Some of us are more privileged and have greater access than others, and that, by no means, is a reason to act irresponsibly by resisting progress. One could instead be the catalyst — translating progress into consumable formats for the masses — rather than constantly playing for the resistance team.

We were born as humans. A true blessing. It means we can comprehend the world better than any other creature; use it, appreciate it, modify it, and augment it with our unique faculties. That ability naturally requires more time — and therefore also justifies the convenience of having our mundane tasks done for us.

In early times of history royal families had slaves[not something we could imagine or comprehend in our times] and as we progressed from those times, by valuing every human life enough, to be able to bring equal opportunities to table for all, we developed machines and these machines could do our mundane tasks with precision and ease, and also equally for all.

Of course, what separates access to these machines is economic disparity. But to bridge that gap, several NGOs have stepped in, and social impact projects have taken birth. Commercially, tech is becoming cheaper and more accessible as time progresses.

This clearly indicates that one of the key objectives of the contemporary civilisation we live in is growth — and access to that growth for all. As a result, we now live in a time where humans are, for the first time in known history, free from slavery and have machines, codes, algorithms, and technology at their disposal.

This level of freedom wasn’t something we had the appetite for a century ago. That’s why, even today, you’ll find strong traces of human behaviour that reflect a tendency to reject progress — either in an unconscious desire to return to having human masters or out of fear of being enslaved by machines.

The truth is: we are here to exercise multiple faculties that set us apart from other creatures. That alone places us ahead of all tech and AI. And it’s in experiencing those very faculties that we find meaning in how far we’ve come. I strongly believe that, no matter what, we cannot go backwards just because machines can now handle what once occupied our minds.

In fact, I believe this is the very reason it’s time for us to explore the depths of our subconscious minds — to touch higher, richer realms of consciousness — while machines take care of the mundane.

Note: The version above was touched up for grammatical corrections and verbal improvements by ChatGPT. Here is the original version to read: Unedited version of this article.

References:

Here are 4 key references (from credible studies and reports) highlighting how heavy use of AI platforms may be weakening human cognition—each with a summary and conclusion:

1. MIT Media Lab EEG Study (“Your brain on ChatGPT”)

Summary: 54 participants wrote essays using only the brain, Google, or ChatGPT, while researchers recorded EEG brain activity.
Conclusion: ChatGPT users showed significantly reduced neural activation in memory and creative thinking areas. Their essays scored lower, and they underperformed even after switching back to brain-only writing. The study warns that over-reliance on AI leads to cognitive disengagement and skill atrophy.

2. PsychASSOC’s Mixed-Methods Research

Summary: Surveyed 666 participants on AI-tool use and cognitive strategies.
Conclusion: Frequent AI users scored lower on critical thinking assessments; cognitive offloading—depending on tools instead of internal thinking—mediated this trend. The study calls for educational approaches to balance AI use with active thinking.

3. Phys.org / MDPI Research on Critical Skills

Summary: Reviews link AI tool usage, cognitive offloading, and long-term cognitive decline.
Conclusion: Heavy reliance on AI can diminish memory retention, problem-solving, and analytical reasoning—especially when used as mental crutches.

4. Nature Human Behaviour—Massachusetts MIT Preprint

Summary: EEG evidence and writing-task studies reinforced earlier findings on neural disengagement.
Conclusion: Users reliant on AI had weaker neural connectivity and performed worse even after returning to manual tasks. This suggests risks for critical thinking and learning.

I warmly invite your opinions in the comments (on whichever platform you found this), or even via WhatsApp using the link below. I look forward to getting on the same page as you, the one reading this.

Frankly, I’m excited to be part of this giant leap mankind seems to be taking with AI. Isn’t it giant enough to reflect on, discuss, and prepare ourselves for?