{"id":26158,"date":"2026-09-10T10:07:27","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T17:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thinkyourself.com\/?p=26158"},"modified":"2026-08-22T10:10:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T17:10:14","slug":"ai-is-the-new-microwave-is-using-ai-really-cheating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinkyourself.com\/fr\/ai-is-the-new-microwave-is-using-ai-really-cheating\/","title":{"rendered":"AI IS THE NEW MICROWAVE: IS USING AI REALLY CHEATING?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A lot of people once thought using a microwave was cheating. Now, many people are looking at AI the very same way.<\/p>\n

There was a time when putting dinner in a microwave didn\u2019t really count as cooking. If you wanted to cook, that meant chopping, stirring, simmering, and preferably dirtying at least three pots.<\/p>\n

Then something happened: the microwave arrived. Instead of spending hours preparing something, you could simply push a button. That was revolutionary!<\/p>\n

And we discovered that dinner didn\u2019t necessarily taste better just because we had suffered more to make it.<\/p>\n

Watch the video or continue reading.<\/p>\n

Today, we walk through grocery stores filled with rotisserie chickens and washed lettuce. When was the last time you washed your own lettuce or grated your own cheese? We buy frozen meals, pre-cut vegetables, bottled sauces, and prepared everything, and nobody calls us cheaters.<\/p>\n

What we\u2019re experiencing now with AI is something we\u2019ve lived through before. Except last time, it came with a rotating glass plate and a little ding.<\/p>\n

Now, I want to make an important distinction. I\u2019m not saying that using AI is never cheating. There are contexts where it obviously can be. School examinations, for example. I\u2019m not talking about using AI to complete a test or assignment when you\u2019re supposed to do the work yourself. I\u2019m talking about using AI in the workplace and in our everyday lives.<\/p>\n

Why should we feel like we\u2019re cheating? We\u2019re not submitting a test.<\/p>\n

And yet, we\u2019re having many of the same reactions we once had to the microwave.<\/p>\n

We used to say, \u201cThat\u2019s not real cooking. You took a shortcut. You should have done it yourself. Those aren\u2019t real cooking skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now we say about AI, \u201cThat\u2019s not real thinking. I don\u2019t trust it. I prefer to do it myself. Is that even safe?\u201d<\/p>\n

But you can put bad ingredients in a microwave, and your dinner isn\u2019t going to taste good. In the same way, you can put bad thinking and bad prompts into AI and get bad results.<\/p>\n

The microwave doesn\u2019t decide what\u2019s for dinner, and AI shouldn\u2019t decide what you believe.<\/p>\n

The microwave is a tool. It\u2019s not the chef.<\/p>\n

AI is a tool. It\u2019s not the thinker.<\/p>\n

The problem isn\u2019t using the microwave; it\u2019s expecting the microwave to be the chef. The problem isn\u2019t using AI; it\u2019s outsourcing your judgment to it.<\/p>\n

And if we want to call using technology \u201ccheating,\u201d we\u2019ve been cheating for centuries!<\/p>\n

Why stop at the microwave?<\/p>\n

What about the calculator? \u201cYou should be able to do that math in your head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spellcheck? \u201cYou should know how to spell.\u201d<\/p>\n

GPS? \u201cYou should know how to read a map.\u201d<\/p>\n

Google? \u201cYou should know the answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The washing machine? \u201cYou didn\u2019t really wash those clothes. The machine did it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And PowerPoint? Oh no! You should draw your own slides. Actually, real speakers should draw them on cave walls\u2014because even paper is probably cheating!<\/p>\n

What about Canva, email templates, or the food processor? Technically, you didn\u2019t chop those onions. The food processor did it.<\/p>\n

The pattern we\u2019re experiencing with AI is essentially the same pattern we\u2019ve experienced with many technologies before it.<\/p>\n

Our brains are prediction machines. They use previous experiences to predict what is about to happen. When something is familiar, the brain already has a model for it. It knows where to put it.<\/p>\n

If you write an email yourself, that\u2019s normal.<\/p>\n

If AI helps you write it, that\u2019s cheating.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

Perhaps simply because we\u2019re not used to it yet.<\/p>\n

If you use Grammarly to correct your writing, that\u2019s okay. If Google finishes your sentence, that\u2019s okay. If your assistant rewrites your email, that\u2019s okay.<\/p>\n

But what if AI rewrites it?<\/p>\n

Suddenly, you\u2019re a cheater!<\/p>\n

Part of the problem is that we can confuse effort with value. Because many of us are still in the early stages of adapting to AI, we haven\u2019t yet completed the process we typically go through when adopting something unfamiliar.<\/p>\n

First, there\u2019s the new tool.<\/p>\n

Then comes moral suspicion: \u201cI\u2019m not sure about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next comes reluctant experimentation: \u201cOkay, I\u2019ll try it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, it becomes normal.<\/p>\n

And finally, we reach: \u201cOh my gosh! How did I ever live without this?\u201d<\/p>\n

We need to remember that if you give AI your entire thinking process and ask it to think instead of you, there\u2019s a problem.<\/p>\n

But if AI helps you challenge an idea, reorganize your thoughts, accelerate a process, conduct research, edit your work, or explore possibilities based on your original thinking, that\u2019s augmentation. It\u2019s not necessarily cheating.<\/p>\n

If you can produce something excellent in 20 minutes instead of two hours, did you cheat, or did you simply become more efficient?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how you become Employee of the Month: by using the tools available to you effectively, not by deliberately choosing the method that takes the longest.<\/p>\n

Maybe we should stop measuring the value of knowledge work by how long it took to produce it.<\/p>\n

I do, however, want to acknowledge where my microwave analogy stops.<\/p>\n

A microwave doesn\u2019t hallucinate ingredients. AI can hallucinate facts.<\/p>\n

A microwave doesn\u2019t accidentally plagiarize dinner. AI introduces legitimate questions around attribution, intellectual property, privacy, and accuracy.<\/p>\n

So yes, just as we learned to use the microwave, we\u2019ll learn to use AI.<\/p>\n

Is the microwave perfect? No.<\/p>\n

Is AI perfect yet? I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n

But perhaps we need to approach AI not by saying, \u201cMake dinner for me,\u201d but rather, \u201cHelp me make this dinner better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The microwave didn\u2019t eliminate great cooks. It eliminated the necessity of cooking everything in the slowest possible way.<\/p>\n

AI won\u2019t eliminate great thinkers either.<\/p>\n

AI may be exactly the same as the microwave in that respect.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t want to hand over the kitchen. You just want to learn how to use the appliances.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Check out some of my previous blog posts…<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Why Expecting the Worst is not a Good Strategy<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You’re the Goalie, Expect the Pucks!<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

How to Face Stressul Situations<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A lot of people once thought using a microwave was cheating. Now, many people are looking at AI the very same way. There was a time when putting dinner in a microwave didn\u2019t really count as cooking. If you wanted to cook, that meant chopping, stirring, simmering, and preferably dirtying at least three pots. Then […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":26161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"tve_updated_post":"

A lot of people once thought using a microwave was cheating. Now, many people are looking at AI the very same way.<\/p>

There was a time when putting dinner in a microwave didn\u2019t really count as cooking. If you wanted to cook, that meant chopping, stirring, simmering, and preferably dirtying at least three pots.<\/p>

Then something happened: the microwave arrived. Instead of spending hours preparing something, you could simply push a button. That was revolutionary!<\/p>

And we discovered that dinner didn\u2019t necessarily taste better just because we had suffered more to make it.<\/p>

Watch the video or continue reading.<\/p><\/div>

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