Thinking—Fast, Slow, and Artificial

How AI Is Reshaping Human Reasoning and the Rise of Cognitive Surrender

The article that expands on Thinking, Fast and Slow, by adding another “system of thought”: System 3. System 3 is defined as “artificial cognition that operates outside the brain”.

The authors introduce the concept of cognitive surrender: adopting AI outputs with minimal scrutiny, overriding intuition (System 1) and deliberation (System 2).

The article is useful at introducing a framework to talk about the problem of cognitive surrender, but it fails to explain clearly why only an AI qualifies for System 3. It seems like any external influence, like a friend or a TV news, would qualify. E.g. when uncertain about a judgement, asking to a friend would tip the scale to go along with the friend’s recommendation.

I think the distinction is one of quantity, which causes a qualitative difference. An AI is more ubiquitous and poses less friction than asking to a friend. Therefore, it is more available and this change in “quantity” causes its users to surrender to it more easily.