How much AI is too much AI? Here's how you can find out

When was the last time you wrote an email without asking AI to make it sound better Or came up with an idea yourself More importantly when was the last time something AI told you made you stop and ask But how do you know thatThese are some of the questions behind a new questionnaire created by the team at Kosoai an AI company that builds custom operating systems and agents for businesses The idea came when the team realised they were beginning to outsource even the simplest forms of thinkingldquoWe did this simple test amongst ourselves Letrsquos play this test in a morning meetingrdquo says the founder Aashish Pahwa ldquoAlmost all of us failedrdquoThe questionnaire designed by the entire team at Koso AI together checks what you have started outsourcing to AI Its questions test whether you can recognise vague polished writing remember information after reading it once question claims that sound authoritative and generate ideas without getting AI to do the expanding for youWhat it asksHere are some excerpts from the testWhich sentence is actually making a pointa AI is reshaping the way we work in an increasingly evolving worldb AI cut the time employees spent writing emails by 25 per cent in one experimentc AI enables businesses to unlock new levels of productivity and innovationCorrect answer Option B A and C sound right but they barely say anything If you picked them yoursquore probably getting too used to AIstyle writing that sounds smart without being specificAashish Pahwa2 Read this once Donrsquot go backWorkers who trusted AI more reported less critical thinking Workers who trusted their own ability reported doing moreWhat was the actual findinga Trusting AI more was linked to less critical thinkingb Workers donrsquot trust their own abilities anymorec Experienced workers stopped using AICorrect answer Option A AI gives us so many instant summaries that we can get used to reading without really remembering3 Now finish this thought yourselfAI makes people more productive buthellip Come up with at least three different endings They should be different not the same variation of each otherCorrect answer If you got three genuinely different ideas you get one pointIf you struggled after the first one that could be a sign that yoursquore getting used to AI doing idea expansion for youHow they designed the testThe first question for instance asks you to pick the sentence that is actually making a point Two options sound suitably corporate and intelligent talking about AI ldquoreshapingrdquo work and ldquounlockingrdquo productivity The third simply tells you that AI cut the time employees spent writing emails by 25 per cent in one experiment The point is to recognise specificity over polished languageldquoThat was the first testrdquo the Pahwa explains The team had noticed that AI ldquodoesnrsquot make points it yapsrdquo and that polished English can make us assume that something is correctAnother question tests what happens when you read something once and move on This is particularly important because they are building the very technology that can encourage the dependence they are warning about ldquoWe have offloaded our critical thinkingrdquo Pahwa says including the ability to ideateThe team has therefore introduced its own workout version Wednesdays are ldquoBrain Gymrdquo days when the entire team goes without AI Instead of getting a tool to research a topic they do it themselves following one question into another They debate brainstorm and work through problems manuallyThe irony is that Kosoai is heavily automated Pahwa describes a content operation where a swarm of AI agents can research topics create outlines write sections check them optimise them for SEO and send them on for publishing A content team that once had more than 12 people now has one person overseeing the processThat is perhaps why the questionnaire is worth taking It isnrsquot asking whether AI is good or bad It is asking a more uncomfortable question which parts of your brain have you stopped exercising because AI can do them for youHead to instagramcomokaashish to take the test yourself