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When using AI, you should read, understand, and validate its output, then write a response in your own words rather than just relaying the output.
The proper use of AI involves critical engagement: understand and verify the output, then restate it in your own words rather than acting as a passive conduit. ✦ AI generated
Niklas Gruhn · Simon Willison's Weblog · 2026-08-03 · original ↗
By all means, prompt AI. But don't just relay the output. Read it, understand it, validate it, and then write a response in your own words (a decent certificate that you've done the prior steps). Making that effort is value you can add.
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- ·Prompt AI, but don't just relay its output
- ·Read, understand, and validate the output
- ·Then write a response in your own words
- ·That effort is value you can add
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explains mechanism → People who blindly copy and paste the output of AI systems to their peers are 'meat puppets'.Niklas Gruhn · Simon Willison's Weblogextends → To avoid cognitive atrophy from AI overreliance, people should form their own point of view first and use AI as a thinking partner that pushes back and sharpens ideas, not as a replacement for their own thinking.Diane Penn · Lenny's Podcast