Replying to people on yesterday’s post — the one where I asked for help and got it! — I saw how dumb I was being and how I could have done more to encourage a critical use of AI.
In the past, I used to run an assignment where you could only use plagiarism, inspired by Kenneth Goldsmith’s Uncreative Writing — I even need to reread it in these AI times — and I made people question the “why” of using the plagiarized texts.
I think I’ll start both doing this for myself and questioning people about it. Having a work partner — which is how I see agents these days — is wonderful. The problem is being a mere proxy for the AI.
Many times I catch myself “vibing” and not even thinking about what I’m doing. I know it’s often better to let AI automate the task, but I always try to think and use it critically — I’m still the bottleneck for the AIs at many points… on purpose.
It’s very hard to understand “letting go”. One case where I feel I’ve already let go is code. I’ve gone back to “messing with code” a lot; however, I don’t open the code. I always question, document decisions and ask for explanations. I find it a healthy use. And I don’t feel like a dev :)
The biggest problem right now, for me, is how to pass this critical thinking on to the people I teach AI to. I don’t want to come out with something generic like “we must act now”, but with something truly full of opinion. I want to have a voice and make my biases clear when I use AI.
I think I’m heading back to academia more and more. :o
Oh, and if you have the curiosity of a good gossip — like me — here’s the link to what my assignments looked like until 2014 (!) - https://lnkd.in/dsr__sF7
Originally written in Portuguese and published on LinkedIn on July 15, 2026. I translated it into English with the help of AI (Claude): it let me bring my LinkedIn posts to people who don’t read Portuguese without rewriting each one from scratch. I reviewed the translation to keep my original meaning and tone.